


Open Up, Buttercup.

by Cleopatra (empressofthelight)



Series: Don't do this all the time huh? [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Blood and Violence, Copious Amounts Of Blood When There Should Be Copious Amounts Of Lube, F/F, F/M, Hellhounds, I'd Like It To Be Said That Atem Has NO Clue What He's Doing, Knights - Freeform, M/M, Modern Royalty, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Pureblood Vampires, Smut, Strangers to Lovers, Vampires, Werewolves, Yuugi Is Learning It's A Really Small World, betrothal, child vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:13:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 99,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22029883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressofthelight/pseuds/Cleopatra
Summary: Atem lost his father, was dragged from his home, lost the only way of life he knew for the last 500 years and would probably go down in history as the king that single-handedly wiped out the entire Vampire race, but he had one good thing. A very loving book worm with trust issues that managed to surprise him at every turn. With his kingdom in pieces, he makes the decision to unite it, even though he knows that decision will not only change everything, but could make him lose the one good thing he has.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi | Atem
Series: Don't do this all the time huh? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567123
Comments: 111
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I HAD to post this after an amazing review from Waves. Shhhh all the secrets.

Atem sipped his Bloody Mary, smirking to himself as he scoured the crowded bar. After all, it really was a good joke. A Vampire drinking a Bloody Mary? He’d get a decent eye roll from Kaiba if he was there and he was glad he wasn’t. He’d be a buzzkill and a half. Joey would be fun, and he felt a little guilty. Joey was supposed to be here, but he must’ve left with his friends before he made it. Serves him right to take Mai seriously and check out the apartment she messaged him about, but he didn't linger on the regret. No one was with him, probably for the first time in over five hundred years, and he was going to live it up while he could. This was going to be the first night of many away from the life he had and he had no intention of going back. He missed the human's clothes and their drunken laughter. Missed watching them spill their drinks and attempt to find someone to go home with. 

The bartender leaned over with another Bloody Mary and set the glass down in front of him, smirking. “From the lovely ladies at the other end of the bar.”

Atem snickered and turned to look at them. Three young women leaned heavily on the edge of the bar, giggling and waving shyly at him. He waved back and set his empty glass down to pick up the new one. He wasn’t going to turn down a free drink, even if the three weren’t what he was looking for. Not that he had a clue why he was actually looking for anyone. Glancing up at the clock above the bar he sighed into the glass, 10:30. He took a sip of his new drink and grinned up at the mirror. He decided he liked Bloody Mary’s, probably more than the other alcoholic drinks he’d had before. This one had garlic in it. It wasn’t a lot, just enough to burn on his tongue and it added something to the drink while not killing him. That had to count for something.

He thought about getting up and walking around the bar, finding another vantage point, but the crowd picked up, making it difficult to move or see much of anything except through the mirror behind the alcohol bottles. Maybe he should go somewhere else. He’d never been to Domino City before. There was sure to be better places than this. 

Keeping his eyes fixed on the people entering the bar, he heard the bartender come back over and chirp happily, “What’ll it be?”

“Umm, how about a strawberry daiquiri?”

“It’s your birthday Yuugi! You HAVE to get a shot!” 

Atem turned to see a group of three, no, four friends, all huddled together at the bar beside him. The young woman who insisted on the shots, leaned over whoever’s birthday it was, wearing a tank top and shorts over her bathing suit. She had her arm wrapped around his back, and made it impossible to see him. They were probably a couple. 

A tall brunette guy with immaculately styled hair (despite all of them obviously just coming back from swimming) stood behind them with his hands in his pockets and another guy stood close to his side, smiling down at the couple, tapping his ghostly pale chin with his pointer finger as he thought of a shot for them to get. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear he was a Vampire too. 

“How about Scooby Doo shots? They're delicious!”

“Yeah,” The tall guy snickered and roughly placed a hand on the birthday guy’s shoulder. “Better get the sweet stuff out of the way before Joey gets here and makes you do Fireball or some shit like that.”

Atem found it ironic that tonight would be the night he’d met more Joey’s/heard of more Joey’s than he swore was possible. It must be a popular name in Domino City. The first time he heard it he thought they might be talking about Kaiba’s Joey, since he did recommend the bar, but after 4 people proving not to be, he’d decided it was a long shot for them to know him. Especially since Joey left the castle hours ago and should already be with them. He turned back to stare at the mirror at the rest of the bar like he was before, but the instant he laid eyes on the guy on the other side of her, he almost choked on his drink. 

The birthday guy laughed, and shook his head at them, smiling sympathetically to the bartender. “We want a round of Scooby Doo shots.”

Atem hardly noticed the bartender move. He was transfixed on staring at the birthday guy through the mirror. He’d never seen a human quite as enticing as this one before. He was beautiful. No. Handsome? No. Was there even a word for this? His cheeks tinged pink from the drinks Atem assumed they got at other bars, his smile so bright it demanded the gaze of all around him. His eyes glowed with excitement, anticipation and contentment. He was just so  _ alive _ . Alive in ways Atem always wished he could be and just so bright against the sea of drunk patrons at the bar. What would he be like with a little darkness in his eyes and at the edges of his smile? Probably perfection. This girl was really lucky, and that thought disappeared just as quickly as it came. Humans never know what they have when they have it.

The birthday guy reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Atem had to resist from scoffing. He shouldn’t be paying for anything on his birthday… or ever. He shifted his gaze from the mirror to the bartender and smiled. The bartender immediately looked up, just like he wanted him to. “Put it on my tab.”

“Sure thing!”

The group of friends all turned to him, the girl finally getting out of the way so he could see the birthday guy clearly and much closer. He didn’t know how it was possible, but his smile was even more intoxicating. “Um thank you.”

“Happy birthday.”

The bartender set the shots on the counter and smiled before someone else drew his attention. Atem watched him walk away, sighing into his glass. Of course he’d like the one guy in the bar who was dating someone. They took the shots and set the glasses on the bar. The girl bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together. “Okay! So, another bar?”

“We have to wait for Joey. He’ll be here any minute.”

“There’s a free table. We can play a game while we’re waiting for him.”

The birthday guy gasped, “That’s a great idea!”

“Ugh. You guys play that game all the time.”

“You don’t have to play, Tea.”

“I know…”

“Besides. That guy over there’s been eyeing you. Why don’t you ask him to dance?”

“What guy?”

Atem perked up and glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, trying not to make it obvious he was listening in. Maybe they weren’t a couple. She leaned over the bar, blocking his view again, then leaned back. “You know what? Alright.”

“You got this, Tea!”

She moved around them through the crowd toward the guy who immediately realized she was walking over to him. It was amusing to watch him panic. He apparently didn’t have as much to drink as everyone else in the bar and couldn’t believe she was walking over to him. He accidentally spilled his drink when trying to turn to talk to her and hastily grabbed it before it rolled on the floor. Atem snickered into his drink, watching them talk and laugh before she drug him away from the bar to dance. 

The birthday guy’s friends walked away towards the only free table in the bar, making comments about the guy Tea was dancing with. Something about how she needed some fun after a bad break up. So they definitely weren’t a couple. The birthday guy ordered another drink and waited for it at the bar. He finished his, still trying to think of a way to talk to him when the bartender set the Daiquiri on the counter. The guy got up and paused, half on the barstool and half standing, looking directly at him. “Hey uh…” Atem looked over at the birthday guy who smiled sheepishly at him. “Would you like to play a game with us? It’s more fun with more people.”

“What game?”

“ERS.”

“What?”

“It’s a card game. Kind of like war but you slap the pile.” He laughed and lifted his shoulders, looking down at the bar. “It’s a lot of fun. I’m not explaining it right.”

Atem smirked and stood up from the bar. “Actually it does sound fun.”

“My name’s Yuugi by the way.”

“Atem.”

His chest tightened after he said it. Yuugi’s sheepish smile changed and now he was looking at him exactly like Atem was to him in the mirror. He blinked and his sheepish smile came back. Yuugi lead him through the bar over to the table his friends reserved. Then, he gestured to the tall brunette. “This is Tristan.”

“Hey!”

“And this is Ryou.”

“Hello.”

“Guys, this is Atem,” Yuugi said to them and turned to smile at him. The way Yuugi said his name made him feel at home and he smiled back. “Our friend should be here any minute.”

“Actually-” Ryou raised his hand to get Yuugi’s attention- “he’ll be a little bit. He just texted me. He’s on his way though! Just might be an hour.”

“Well, at least he’s on his way right?” Yuugi forced a smile and it made Ryou laugh. 

“Relax Yuugi. He’ll be here. He said he’s leaving his boyfriend’s place now.”

“Yeah. I don’t think this guy’s even real,” Tristan muttered, shuffling the deck of playing cards.

“He’s real alright.” Yuugi giggled and sat down in the chair across from Ryou, Atem sat down between them. “Joey shares way too much for him to not be real. He doesn’t have that kind of imagination.”

“Yeah. TMI is not a thing with Joey.”

Atem felt like he might be imposing on their conversation, but he was there and he was curious. “Why doesn’t he bring him?”

Ryou and Yuugi sighed said in unison, “They’re taking it slow and not ready to do the whole’ meet the family thing’,” something Joey had constantly said to them apparently. 

“I see.”

“It’s your birthday Yuugi,” Ryou said with a smile. “Forget about him and his shady love life. We’re playing your favorite game.”

“So how do you play this again?”

“It’s Egyptian Rat Screw! Haven’t you played it before? It’s pretty popular.” Ryou gasped when Atem shook his head. 

Tristan smirked and dealt the cards out, talking to him and glancing up at him periodically, “Okay so the rules are, Yuugi starts, cause he’s sitting to my left, and then you play then Ryou and it goes around until someone lays down a face card. Then the person going next has to lay down a face card. If they can’t it goes to the person who played the face card.”

“But, there are slap rules,” Yuugi said with a mischievous smirk, “If someone plays a card that matches what was played before everyone can slap the deck and whoever's the fastest, wins it.”

“Or if you get a sandwich, which is like a 3 then someone plays an 8 then someone plays a 3 again.”

“We like to play with marriage rules too, just to up the ante since we play this all the time. So if someone plays a king or queen, then someone else plays the other, you can slap the pile.”

“Interesting.” Atem quickly realized he could run this game. Being a Vampire meant he was faster than the rest of them, but he couldn't let them know. This would be a challenge. Something he greatly enjoyed. “Can we do a practice round?”

Ryou scooted closer to the table, beaming. “That’s a great idea!”

Tristan finished dealing the cards and everyone collected them into neat piles. Yuugi went first and they played a fairly placid round until Ryou played a 6 on Atem’s 6. The three of them immediately reached out hitting the pile as hard as they could. Atem laughed as Yuugi pulled the pile back and shook his hand. “So yeah, that’s how you play.”

“So the added bonus to this game is to seek revenge on the winner?”

Yuugi laughed heartily and nodded. “Exactly!”

Atem shifted in the wooden chair and handed Tristan his cards so they could start officially. “This is my kind of game.”

It took a few rounds before he could get the right speed to win the pile without causing attention to himself. Too slow was infinitely better than too fast with Tristan as their designated driver and only drinking water after the shot at the bar. He really enjoyed the game, especially with Yuugi’s expressions and outbursts when the game would get interesting. 

Atem played a card and reached for his drink to realize he didn’t have one. He thought about going back up the bar to get another when a glass was set down next to him. He looked up at a guy he recognized from when he sat at the bar. Apparently he was paying attention to his lack of talking to the women who bought him the drink before. He smirked. “Thought you might need another.”

Atem folded his hands under his chin and grinned up at him. Willing him to accept his thanks and walk away. “I did. Thank you.”

He nodded and genuinely smiled, then turned around and walked away, disappearing behind him. Not that he had his attention anymore. It was his turn to play, and he played a King on Yuugi’s queen. Reaching out he slapped the pile and pulled it towards him, glancing up at them with a quirked brow. That was too easy for them to see. Why didn’t they hit it?

“Does that happen to you a lot?” Tristan asked, grinning ear to ear like he found the whole thing funny.

What was funny about it? “I wouldn’t say a lot.”

“How many drinks have you bought since you got here?” Ryou asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. 

“1.”

“You and Tea. That’s just crap.”

Tristan laughed. “I don’t want to hear it from you, Ryou. Girls buy you drinks all the time.”

Ryou through a card down on the table and sighed, leaning back in the wooden chair. “I’d like one guy to buy me a drink. Just one.” 

“Oooo trouble in paradise?” Tristan snickered, and played a card. 

Ryou wrinkled his nose, a smile pulling at his lips. “No. He’s just a bum like Joey’s boyfriend and doesn't like going out to places like this.”

Atem glanced at Yuugi who hadn’t said a thing. He thought he’d be bewildered too, but he half smirked at him. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean and now wasn't the time, this wasn’t the place to ask. So he continued playing the game. It wasn’t long before Yuugi won and leaned back smuggly grinning at the cards as he shuffled them. Then he looked up at Atem. “You’re really good at this game for never playing it before.”

“Not good enough. I’ll win the next one.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ryou giggled.

“I’m so confident I’ll win, in fact, I’d like to make a bet with you.”

Yuugi tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “What are you betting?”

“If I win, you buy me a drink.”

Yuugi’s entirely body language relaxed and he laughed. “A drink? Alright. You’re on, and if I win you get me another drink.” 

Atem nodded, staring at his radiant smile while he dealt out the cards. This game was faster, yet more challenging. He got the right speed, and easily predicted all of their movements. So now he wasn’t even trying, all he was ‘trying’ to do was time it just right so his hand always touched Yuugi’s. Unfortunately, towards the end, Yuugi suspected him. He never said anything, or even looked at him in question. Just a feeling, hung in the air between them, that Yuugi found how he played strange. That meant he needed to stop playing after this game. So when he won, and shuffled the cards, he grinned at Yuugi. “Thank you for the drink.”

Yuugi shook his head, giggling. “Any requests?”

Atem grinned at Yuugi, rattling off an order he heard from another gentleman that came through the bar and heard how much his drink was. He did it more or less to see what Yuugi would do. If he was interested in him, he could either get it for him or try to talk him out of it, if he wasn’t, he’d just flat out refuse. “Double shot of Walker blue on the rocks.”

“Okay.”

He started to get up when Tristan grabbed his arm. “Seriously Atem, what do you want to drink? He can’t get that.”

Yuugi looked up at the bar. “Why not? Don’t they have it?” 

Tristan looked up at Yuugi like he couldn’t believe he had to explain himself. “He’s asking for a drink that costs about 100$.”

“That was our bet.” Yuugi looked back at Atem, meeting his gaze with the same excitement and anticipation as before, but now dark desire swirled in his eyes. He was right. Perfection.

Tristan released him and laughed. “Alright, man.”

Yuugi walked past him towards the bar, passing by Tea and the guy she was dancing with. Atem took a sip of his Bloody Mary, listening to her tell him she was leaving and telling him happy birthday again. Yuugi tried not to sound disappointed and failed, not that Tea noticed, or if she did, she didn’t say anything about it. He glanced over his shoulder at her and the guy leaving through the crowd before he got an idea. Mai did give him the apartment for the night, and he really wanted to spend more time with Yuugi. Alone. So it was probably a bad idea, but it could work. Only if this Joey guy canceled. 

He glanced at the clock above the bar and couldn’t hide his grin. Midnight. Perfect. There’s no way he’d show up now. He turned back to Ryou and Tristan who seemed to be watching Tea leave the bar. Ryou shook his head and frowned. “What time is it?”

“Midnight. Where the hell is Joey?”

Ryou fished out his phone from his pocket and looked at it. His shoulders drooped. “He’s not going to make it.”

Tristan threw his hand up, dropping it onto the table. “What’s going on with him? He’s always here for Yuugi.”

“Yeah. Something's up...”

Atem quirked a brow at Ryou, staring down at his phone with a worried frown. He had the distinct impression Ryou knew something he wasn’t telling everyone else. Normally, he’d investigate further but this was his chance. “If you want to check on him,” Atem said, getting Tristan to meet his eyes, “I’ll take Yuugi home.”

“Haven’t you had a lot to drink?” Ryou asked, making the mistake of looking at Atem too. 

He grinned and shook his head slowly. “Yuugi deserves to have a good birthday. We can get a cab.”

“Yeah. Yeah we should go.” Ryou murmured standing up slowly from the table not breaking eye contact until he slid the chair back. “Come on Tristan.”

He reluctantly got up and broke eye contact with Atem. “Tell Yuugi we’re sorry. We wanted him to have a good birthday after this year.”

His grin widened. “Don't worry. This will be a birthday he’ll never forget.”

Ryou nodded, frowning at the ground, then looked at Tristan. Both shared a look of guilt and hesitation before walking away. Atem was impressed. They must be really good friends for this to be so difficult for them. They fought every step of the way. He admired that; futile, but admirable. He finished off his drink when Yuugi came back and sat the Walker Blue down in front of him. “Sorry that took so long. Where is Ryou and Tristan?”

Atem picked up the glass and took a sip before gesturing to the chair beside him for Yuugi to sit. “Ryou drank a little too much and got sick so Tristan took him home. He’ll be back.”

Yuugi’s concern was evident in his face, but he smiled and nodded, looking down at the table. “I actually should go home too. It’s late and I’m supposed to meet everyone at our favorite diner for breakfast, then I have to work tomorrow night.”

“I’m surprised you didn't take off for the day after your birthday,” Atem said before taking another sip.

“Yeah I tried. It’s in my first 90 days though so… I’m stuck living there until they give me the okay.”

He nodded, completely understanding. “Wish I could quit mine.”

“Why don’t you quit?”

“They pay way too well.”

Yuugi laughed. “Yeah that’s how they get you.”

“Where do you work?”

“Oh I uh… I’m working at a gaming company, but I don’t make any of the games or anything. I just do the paperwork and send stuff out. It’s what I've done the last 6 years so they feel like that’s my career choice until I die. No one would even call me back out of that field.”

“But they pay well?”

“Very well, and it gets me in the door to make games. Which is what I really want to do.” Yuugi sighed and leaned on the table. He stared down at it, crossing his arms over it and resting his chin on them. Atem watched him, realizing Yuugi was not as sober as he let on. His mood shift was a good indicator of that. “Well that’s not true. I did want to make games, but after my interview for this job, that dream is never going to happen.”

“How do you mean?”

“The company I used to work for was closed up because of a bunch of illegal stuff the CEO was doing. I was recommended this company I work for now, but it’s exactly like my old job. Just glorified secretary, doing a lot of other stuff and not getting recognized or paid for it. And I tried applying other places, but it’s like they all know.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I know it’s not like that everywhere, but in this city it sure seems that way.”

“Why don’t you move?”

Yuugi looked up at him, still laying his head on his arms. He blinked slowly, smiling. “I can’t leave. It’s hard to make new friends.”

“You just need someone to go with you.”

“Joey’s got a new boyfriend or I’d ask him.” Yuugi sat up pushing away from the table. “And obviously his boyfriend is way more important than hanging out with me. Ryou’s got a great job and Tea’s… well Tea’s Tea. Tristan’s whole family is here and he won’t leave them.”

“I’d go with you.”

Yuugi laughed, blushing deeply, “You don’t even know me.”

“I really want to quit. Let me go with you.” Yuugi laughed again, giving Atem the feeling of warmth he hadn’t felt in a long time. “Seriously. You think you’re stuck. I’ve tried physically running from my job and they dragged me back in with weak promises of coffee.”

Yuugi laughed hard, like he was joking but he really wasn’t. When he finished laughing he looked at him with furrowed brows. “So you’d rather move to some random city and live in a tiny apartment and eat Ramon for years with a complete stranger hoping to find a job that doesn’t suck? I’m pretty sure those don’t exist anyway.”

Atem grinned. Eat ramon? What the hell was that? Not that it mattered. The idea of all of that, living with just him, leaving his world and all the fear and power behind had a sinful appeal, but what really set it apart was the idea of feeding off Yuugi for years, centuries, eternity? “Yes.”

Yuugi giggled and shook his head. “That’s really sweet and all, but you don’t need to lie to me. I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t like you.”

He quirked a brow at him. “Are you always so forward?”

“Would you believe I’m actually pretty shy? Apparently me on vodka is a different story. Or I don’t know… Maybe it’s just me with you.”

Atem leaned forward, a little surprised when Yuugi moved closer too. He grinned, closing the space between them to kiss him. Yuugi’s lips were just as soft and sweet as he expected, even with the taste of alcohol on them. When he moved back and looked into Yuuig’s half lidded eyes he murmured, “If you won’t let me move with you to a different city, would you at least come back to my place with me?”

Yuugi didn’t say anything at first, but he suddenly smiled and nodded. “That’s better.”

He snickered when Yuugi moved forward, kissing him again. He deepened the kiss, reaching up to cup the sides of Yuugi’s face. He was so warm. So sweet. He forced himself to pull away. He let his hands drop to Yuugi’s lap and grabbed his hands. Getting up from the chair, he pulled Yuugi up and lead him through the bar to the door. 

\----

Was this his apartment? No, but Yuugi didn’t need to know that. All he needed to know was how much Atem wanted him. He lead him through the dark apartment, playfully keeping him from turning on the lights. Although his reason was anything but playful. If he could see the apartment, he’d almost instantly know it wasn’t his. Not that it was the only reason for the black out. He could feel his teeth ache and throb. If Yuugi saw that, everything would be over before it began. Luckily, he laughed and stopped trying, instead focusing on kissing him. He wrapped his arms around Yuugi, sliding his hands under the hem of his shirt to touch his back. Yuugi shuddered. “You’re freezing.”

“Sorry,” Atem snickered, “I’m cold blooded.”

He giggled, nuzzling his face into the crook of his neck. “I’ll have to warm you up then, huh?”

He felt Yuugi snake his hands under his shirt and pull it up. So he assisted. Once it was over his head, he threw it into the dark, dismissing it as soon as it left his fingers. He reached out and pulled at Yuugi’s shirt, getting it off just as quickly. He returned to tracing his fingers over the small of Yuug’s back as he lead him through the apartment until they got to the bedroom. He tossed Yuugi on the bed, delighting in his laughter echoing in the dark room. Yuugi sat up and moved back towards the head of the bed while Atem crawled on the bed over him, stopping him before his hand touched the pillows. He buried his hand in Yuugi’s hair, wrapping his fingers around the back of his head. He surged forward, devouring Yuugi’s mouth, eliciting a pleased moan from him. 

With his free hand he fiddled with Yuugi’s belt buckle, which he eagerly assisted with. They had his pants unbuckled and unzipped in seconds. He kissed down Yuugi’s jaw and neck, resisting the urge to sink his fangs into him. Atem sat up, hooking his fingers in Yuug’s belt loops and pulled. They slid off easily and he threw them in a heap on the floor, before taking his own off. Yuugi tried to move again, reaching for the lamp beside the bed but Atem grabbed his hand before he could turn it on. 

“I want to see you.”

“Feel me,” Atem breathed, bringing his hand to rest on his hip, “Trust me. It’s better.” 

Yuugi slid his hands over Atem’s back as he laid down on him, devouring his mouth again, trying to satisfy his hunger with anything but Yuugi’s blood. Not yet. Rocking his hips into him, Yuugi moaned and gasped, wrapping his legs around his waist, tightening his grip on his back. Lost in his warmth, he kissed along Yuugi’s jaw, licking his neck. He could feel his heartbeat against his tongue and moaned. His upper fangs extended, and he almost bit down when Yuugi shifted under him, kissing his temple. “Quit teasing me.”

Atem let out a ragged chuckle. He needed to get away from Yuugi’s neck. “As you wish.”

He kissed a trail down Yuugi’s chest and abdomen, then licked the entire length of his throbbing erection. Yuugi moaned arching his back and tangling his fingers in Atem’s hair. He took him into his mouth, moaning at how warm he was, how good he tasted, how erotic he smelled. Yuugi tightened his grip in his hair, moving him exactly how he wanted. Atem curled his fingers into his hips, holding him still. The last thing he needed was Yuugi getting cut on his fangs. This was hard enough. Was it Yuugi’s blood that made him so hungry or was something else at work? 

Yuugi pushed his head down, sheathing himself fully in Atem’s mouth. He tried to move his hips again, but he wouldn’t let him. Instead, he swallowed around him, moving his tongue against him. He shouted, tensing and arching in pleasure as he came, filling Atem’s mouth with a taste he now craved just as much as Yuugi’s blood. He swallowed around him again, making Yuugi twitch under him and then giggle. He pulled on his hair gently, making Atem move. He slipped from his mouth and Atem licked his lips staring down at him. He smiled in bliss up at him, gently guiding him back up. “How badly do you want me?”

Atem moaned and crawled up to wrap his arms under Yuugi’s shoulders. He kissed him and Yuugi hesitated to kiss him back. When he did, he kissed him differently than he did before. It wasn’t filled with lust or fleeting desire, it was loving and warm. Atem felt his warmth burning into his bones, from head to toe. That kiss changed his mind. He was so focused on getting out, having a night not to worry about anything that he completely dismissed the other option. He had zero confidence he’d find someone like him, but he did, didn’t he? In just a few hours Yuugi showed him he was a good friend, his friends fighting having to leave when he sent them away. He was fun, inviting him to play a game with him and agreeing to take the bet he had. He was understanding, letting Tea go and talking to him about his job. He was intoxicating, leading him to making decisions he never would have otherwise. He needed all of that. 

In a perfect world, he’d see Yuugi again, wait until it was both of their decision to do this, but he didn't have the time to wait until then. Didn’t even have the time for a quick talk about it after he sobered up the next day either. So with the options he had; freedom, going back empty handed to whatever fate awaited him or bringing Yuugi home with him, he chose Yuugi.

Atem moved back, bushing Yuugi’s sweat matted hair off his forehead and grinned, his fangs fully extended on top and bottom. “I want you more than anything and anyone in all existence. I want to spend eternity like this with you.”

He closed his eyes and smiled, then he opened them and brushed his fingers over Atem’s cheek. “Me too.”

Atem turned into his palm and kissed his wrist, reaching up to squeeze his hand. He looked back down at him. His eyes were dark, his smile dark around the edges. He was perfection, lying beneath him just like this, and in a few moments that darkness would stay forever; in his eyes, in his smile. Atem leaned down and kissed him one last time. Then he tilted Yuugi’s head to the side and grazed his fangs over Yuugi’s neck. He gasped, but didn’t try to pull away. So he sank his teeth into him as quick as he could. He found it was less painful that way, not that Yuugi would feel pain for much longer. 

He screamed, his entire body going rigid under him, but it only lasted a second. As his sweet blood filled Atem’s mouth Yuugi’s breathing became labored. Instead of pushing him away or holding on to him for dear life, he shuddered and shifted. Atem felt Yuugi wrap his hand around the back of his head, holding him there while the other pulled his body closer. “You’re so warm.”

When Yuugi’s blood no longer flowed into his mouth, he released his neck, feeling slightly dizzy when he sat up, but he didn't have time to deal with it. Yuugi blinked slowly, dazed and fading. Darkness swirling in his eyes and lining his pale lips. He had to do this fast, or he’d lose everything. Biting down on his own wrist, he let his blood drip and pour down his arm onto Yuugi’s chest. Then he quickly put his bleeding wrist to Yuugi’s lips, but he just laid there, not moving or breathing. Atem started to wonder if he was too late when Yuugi shoved him back with all of his strength, almost throwing him off the bed. He tried to catch himself on his arms, right at the edge of the bed. One arm slipped but he managed to pull himself up enough. Yuugi knelt on the bed between Atem’s ankles, an absolute vision with blood covered fangs poking his bottom lip. He stared at the blood on his fingertips that he’d just wiped off his chest, panting, as if he couldn’t get enough air. 

When Yuugi’s eyes shot over to him, he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. This was all wrong. Yuugi should be blood thirsty at the worst, passed out at the best, but there he was, conscious and appeared to be thinking of something, though he had no idea what that could be. His brows knit together, licking his lips. Yuugi’s gaze swept over him; blood red eyes, hungry and dark as he brought his fingers to his mouth and licked the blood of them. Whatever it was he was thinking either changed or he made a decision because he lunged for him with so much force they both slid off the bed. 

Atem didn’t feel the pain in his shoulders from hitting the floor because Yuugi had his fangs embedded deep in his neck. All he felt was warmth and pleasure. He needed to move back since neither of them were entirely off the bed, lying at an awkward angle between the side of the bed and the floor, but Yuugi wasn't letting him go and he could barely think straight. Yuugi shifted on top of him, sliding further from the bed and ended up having to let go of him. He hardly waited for him to move back from the bed before he got down too, settling between Atem’s legs and gripping the back of his hair to stop him from moving up. Yuugi pushed up on his palm and looked down at him with half lidded lust filled eyes, blood dripping from his chin. “You taste _ so good _ .”

His breath hitched in his throat when Yuugi laid down on him, pulling his hair so he’d tilt his head up and expose his throat. He bit down on his neck gently, rolling his hips into him making Atem moan his name. If this was what Yuugi was like bloodthirsty, he wasn’t allowed out of his bedroom. Ever. 


	2. Chapter 2

Atem rolled over, expecting to wrap his arm around Yuugi, but his hand met with nothing but an old worn down rug and sheets. He scowled at the empty space and sat up. “Yuugi?”

Nothing.

He looked around the room, but nothing was out of place. He stood up, thinking maybe Yuugi managed to get back into the bed at some point while he was asleep, but he wasn’t there either. A quick look at the ground on the other side of the bed, he realized Yuugi’s clothes were gone. Oh no... He held his breath, staring at the floor. Maybe Yuugi was in the bathroom, but a quick glance towards the wide open and dark bathroom door, proved that wrong. Panicking, Atem grabbed his pants from the floor beside the bed and sifted through the pockets, but his phone was gone. He muttered in Arabic, searching around the floor,  _ “Of course this happens. Why wouldn't it? I knew I should have left.” _

He knelt down and looked under the bed hoping it fell under it at some point, but it wasn’t there either. He sighed, sitting up, when he noticed it sitting perfectly on the nightstand. He frowned at it and picked it up. It lit up in a text from a number he didn’t know. He stood up, staring at the phone and sat down on the bed to read the message. 

‘Atem I’m so sorry to run out like this. I really did try to wake you up but you were dead to the world.🤣 I had an amazing time with you last night. Thank you for making my birthday perfect. I really want to see you again. This is my number.’

He huffed, still gripped with anxiety and tried to call the number. It immediately went to voicemail. He flopped back on the bed, thinking about throwing his phone because now he had to call Kaiba. _ “I hate everything.” _

\---

Yuugi felt like a Mac truck hit him, ran over him, then backed up just for good measure. Everything hurt, everything stung and walking was a joke. How he made it to the diner on foot to meet with his friends for breakfast, he had no idea. It didn’t help that he had to stop by his apartment to change. His clothes were fine… if he didn’t have hickeys and bite marks everywhere. EVERYWHERE. He blushed and he smiled down at his coffee mug, wrapped snugly in his fingers. He was freezing despite it being almost 80 outside. It was June for crying out loud! But he was freezing. Kind of like Atem. 

His smile faltered thinking about him. He hated leaving him like that, but he did try to wake him up. Maybe he should’ve tried harder, invited him to breakfast too. Now he felt even worse. What if this was just a one night stand kind of thing and he never saw him again? It didn’t feel like it last night, but isn’t that how it always is with one night stands? One person thinks it’s just a fling and the other is fully invested. Staring at the cup of sweet coffee, he realized he was definitely fully invested. Atem was just… wow. Last night was wow. He never thought he’d want to be invested like this with someone again but he really was.

He closed his eyes and smiled to himself thinking about it when he heard a familiar voice. “Yuugi!”

He opened his eyes and smiled at Ryou and Tristan, rushing through the diner towards his table. “Hey guys!”

“We’ve been calling you all morning!”

“You weren’t at home. We looked everywhere for you,” Ryou said, sliding into the booth beside him. He frowned at him, looking him over. “Are you alright?”

Yuugi giggled and nodded. “I’m fine Ryou-” he picked up his coffee mug and brought it to his lips, grinning into the cup- “and you’re right. I wasn’t home.”

Ryou gasped and grabbed onto Yuugi’s arm almost spilling his coffee. “You hooked up with Atem last night didn’t you?! Tell me everything!”

“Don’t tell us anything. I don’t want to know.”

Yuugi laughed at Tristan’s wrinkled nose and slightly flushed cheeks. Ryou sighed. “Fine. We’ll talk later.” Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. Yuugi didn’t get a chance to stop him and he dumped its contents into his coffee.

Yuugi giggled. “I’m fine. Ryou I don’t-”

“Hangover cure of the century, I’m telling you.”

“If that’s the same nasty stuff you gave me an hour ago, chug it Yuugi. It tastes like shit, but trust me, you’ll thank him for it later.”

Ryou puffed up his chest and Yuugi did what Tristan said, but it didn't taste bad at all. It actually tasted amazing, and boy did it help him feeling like a living Popsicle. He melted against the seat hugging the cup between his hands and smiled. Much better. Ryou giggled beside him and started to say something when their regular waitress came over with a hand on her hip. “Where’s the loud bottomless pit and my girl Tea?”

“Tea’s on her way. I have no idea where Joey is,” Tristan muttered. 

“I’m right here!” Joey shouted, barreling through the diner and sliding into Tristan, shoving him hard into the wall. “Sorry guys I-”

Yuugi gasped at Joey’s black eye and busted lip, even his arm was in a sling. He looked horrible. “Joey! What happened?”

Joey blinked at him, then looked down at himself. “Oh. Well it ain’t nothin’. Can I get my usual Tiff?”

“Sure thing,” she snickered and gestured to Ryou with her pen. “Usuals for all of you?”

“Yes ma’am.”

But Yuugi didn’t want pancakes like he normally got. He was still a little cold, and the only thing he could think of that was warm was coffee and oatmeal. “Can I get another coffee? And oatmeal?”

“Oatmeal?” She blinked at him then shook her head. “Of course you can. I’ll be right back.”

“Thanks Tiff!” Joey shouted after her then turned to Yuugi with a crooked grin. “Sorry Yuug’. Food’s important. Anyway, yeah I got mugged after I left my boyfriend’s house ta go ta your birthday thing. I was at the hospital last night. It’s why I couldn’t make it ta the bar.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?!”

Joey shrugged. “It’s your birthday. I wasn’t gonna ruin it makin’ ya come ta the ER and wait fifty years in pure boredom. ‘Sides, I wasn’t alone.”

Yuugi smiled at him. He should've known something was up. Joey was his best friend in the whole world. He wouldn’t just ditch him for no good reason. “Well I'm glad you’re okay.”

“We had fun without you,” Ryou said, wrapping his arm around Yuugi’s, “Yuugi met a guy.”

“Damn it!” Joey huffed, leaning on his elbow on the table. “Man, I miss all the good stuff.”

“I’m actually kind of surprised he isn’t here,” Ryou said to Yuugi, making him blush.

“Yeah I tried waking him up. That wasn’t a thing.”

“Wait what?!”

Yuugi lifted his shoulders, blushing like crazy. 

Joey’s big grin started to fade as he looked at him though, then he tilted his head to the side and wrinkled his nose. “What’s goin’ on with ya?”

“What?”

“I dunno. Ya smell weird.”

Tristan snorted. “You and that nose, man.”

“Seriously. Did ya just come here from his place or somethin’?”

“No, I went home and changed. I’m freezing.”

Joey’s frown deepened. “Freezin’? It’s fuckin’ hot in here.”

“Yeah, well, I'm cold.”

“Ya gettin’ sick or somethin’?”

Yuugi shook his head. “No, I'm not sick just hungover. I have a migraine like no one’s business, feel like I could throw up and I’m cold. Thanks for asking.”

“That good a night, huh?” Joey still wasn’t smiling. He kept looking at him weird but he wasn’t sure what he was thinking. 

“He’s really fine Joey,” Ryou murmured with a strange smirk. “I fixed him.”

He nodded, then looked around the diner, even getting up to look behind him then sat back down, narrowing his eyes. 

“Joey. Dude, you’re being weird,” Tristan snickered, “What’s up?”

“I uh, I’ll be right back.”

“O-okay.” Yuugi watched him get up, stealing a concerned glance his way again before disappearing out the front doors.

Tristan leaned over the table and whispered, “Something’s going on.”

Ryou just smiled at Yuugi. “Don’t worry. He’ll be back.” 

Yuugi nodded, but he felt awful. He was cold and hurt and now he felt like he was worrying Joey, and he was also worried about Joey. This was too much to be hungover during. He lifted his coffee cup and sighed, empty, when Tea walked into the diner. She looked perfect as always, walking over to their table and Tristan scooted over for her. She sat down beaming and then lifted a brow at Yuugi. “There’s a story here.”

“He’s cold.”

“No, I’m talking about the hickey I see under that turtleneck of yours.” She grinned at him, leaning over the table and reaching for his sweater. “Where’d you get that?”

Yuugi immediately pulled up the sweater, wishing he could sink into it and ducking her outstretched hand. Why was everyone so concerned about him? “It’s nothing.”

“Yuugi got lucky last night.” Ryou giggled at Yuugi’s look of utter shock.

“Ooooo with the cute guy at the bar?”

“Yep!”

“Where’s Joey? He ready to kill him?”

Yuugi snickered and then sighed, “Yeah, it seemed like it.”

“So how was your night, Tea?” 

She leaned back, smiling, and crossed her legs. “I found a decent guy. Who would’ve thought. He just kissed me good night after taking he home like a gentleman.”

“That means he’s not interested Tea,” Tristan laughed.

“Not all guys are slobs like you.”

“You just can’t handle someone not being attracted to you.”

Yuugi shook his head, listening to them bicker. He caught sight of Joey outside the dinner on his phone, yelling at someone. Who was he yelling at?

\---

Kaiba groaned when his phone when off. Why? Just why? He picked it up off the stone in front of the fireplace and quirked a brow. Atem? Putting the phone to his ear, he growled, “What the fuck do you want?”

“That’s no way to talk to the King of Vampires.”

“Today’s my day off. You can be king tomorrow.”

“This is an emergency.”

“Everything’s an emergency with you,” Kaiba muttered, rubbing his eyes. “We had a deal. No calls in 48 hours and it hasn’t even been 24. Goodbye Atem.”

“Kaiba-”

“No. We had a deal. You got a day off yesterday. I get one today. I’m hanging up.”

“He’s gone.”

Kaiba groaned and tossed the phone on the other side of the room. He had one thing to do. How hard is it to keep track of one person? Especially when that person should be damn near in a coma. Although, he was a little surprised he found anyone.

Atem’s voice came on the phone from under the sofa. “I know you’re still there.”

Kaiba glared at it and sat up. He should've walked upstairs when Joey woke him up to say goodbye. He was sore and tired. Not just from the floor but from an exhausting night and a couple hours of sleep. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“I need your help finding him before he goes on a killing spree or gets himself killed.”

Snatching the phone from under the sofa, he stood up from the floor. So much for getting some sleep. He walked through the living room, picking up his clothes scattered on the floor and started to get dressed with the phone lodged between his chin and his shoulder. “Fine. Who is it? What does he look like? Do you know anything besides his name? Are you even sure it’s his name?”

“You’re such a dick.”

“You. Woke. Me. Up.”

“I should’ve called Joey or Mokuba.”

“Yes you should have,” Kaiba snarled back.

“His name is Yuugi, and yes that’s his real name. He’s about my height, purple-”

“Wait…” Kaiba stopped moving. “Did you just say Yuugi?” Then his phone went off. He pulled it away from his ear and looked down at it. Now Joey was calling him. “Hold on.”

“Please hurry.”

Kaiba switched over the call and instantly, Joey started the phone call out practically screaming at him, “I knew I shoulda told ya ta fuck off! My arm was fuckin’ fine!”

He rolled his eyes, continuing to get dressed. “How was breakfast? I’m surprised you’re calling me so early. Already devoured the wait staff? They just don’t put up fights like they used to.”

“Fuck you Kaiba! I don’t mind helpin’ ya. I know how important it was, but while I was gettin’ the shit beat outta me, Yuug’ was attacked by some vampire bastard pretendin’ ta be interested in him!”

“And now you’re being dramatic.”

“I ain’t bein’ dramatic. He doesn’t deserve ta be some vampire’s shmorgishborg!”

“You don’t seem to mind,” Kaiba said, putting his shirt on as best he could with the phone wedged between his chin and his shoulder. 

There were few times he’d rendered Joey speechless (or in this case unintelligible). He stuttered and muttered and cursed away from the phone. It was a shame he couldn’t see him. “Ya know what?”

“What?”

“Why are ya so calm about this?” Kaiba apparently didn’t answer him fast enough and he snarled into the phone, “I’m gonna give ya two seconds ta explain why the FUCK my best friend wreaks like ya guys. And I know ya know why, Kaiba. Start fuckin’ talkin’!“

“I never heard you complain about how I smell.”

“Ya don't count.”

“You said ‘you’ that does include me.”

“Quit fuckin’ stallin’ and answer me!”

Why was he so calm about it? Because Atem actually did something smart. On fucking accident, but still smart. He half expected him to either show up empty handed, not show up at all or with some idiot. Yuugi wasn’t an idiot. He was the one person who Joey was ridiculously protective of, Joey’s family loved, and Aknankamon seemed to like as well. He still wasn’t sure how or why, but Lilly had a high opinion of him too. Lilly and Aknankamon tried talking Joey into bringing him back to the castle after his vacation. It didn’t work, Joey wanted him as far away from this as possible, and yet, he was right in the middle of it constantly. Now he couldn’t get out no matter how much Joey barked about it. 

He switched the call over to a conference call and put it on speaker phone as he walked into the kitchen. After he set the phone down on the counter, he grinned, walking over to the coffee pot. This should be entertaining. Serves Atem right for waking him up.  “Atem, Joey’s on the phone too. Would you like to explain to him why his best friend is now a vampire?”

No one said anything for a while and he wondered if the phone didn’t actually connect their calls when Atem murmured, “His... what?”

“Why would Atem know anythin’ bout it Kaiba? Quit fuckin’ stallin’ and answer me.”

Kaiba set up his coffee pot to brew and leaned on the counter, waiting for Atem to say something; because now he knew and that was by itself worth all of this. 

“Joey.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Why didn’t you go to Yuugi’s birthday party?”

“I wasn't tryin ta-” Joey groaned. “How’d ya know about that? Was Ryou talkin’ ta Serenity again? She bitchin’ about it too? Kaiba this is your fuckin’ fault.”

Kaiba snickered at how Joey completely missed Atem saying Yuugi’s name. He didn't even notice it. Just went right along with it. Oh well, he just had to drag the conversation out long enough for him to connect the dots. “Joey didn’t go because he was helping me wipe out part of the group that killed your father and Lilly. He would've made it in plenty of time if he wasn’t shot 6 times.”

“Five times and I told ya I was fuckin’ fine!”

“Five times, with silver.”

“I’m still fine.”

Atem gasped, “How are you fine?!”

“He’s fine because I spent hours digging bullets out of his arm so it didn’t melt off.”

Kaiba turned when his coffee pot beeped at him and poured himself a cup of coffee, glancing back at the phone while Joey shouted into it, “My arm wasn’t gonna melt off!”

“Keep telling yourself that, pup.”

“Joey.”

“It wasn’t. I was fuckin’ fine! I told ya I shouldn’ta missed his birthday! Now he’s fuckin’ sittin’ in the diner practically wearin’ a fuckin’ parka in the middle of summer talkin’ about some asshole he met at the bar who he just thinks is the best guy in the fuckin’ world and he has no idea was a vampire!”

Kaiba scoffed, leaning against the counter with his mug in his hands, glaring at the phone. “You don’t know that.”

“No, Joey’s right. He has no idea.”

Kaiba waited for Joey to jump on that, but he didn’t.

“See?! I didn’t want him in this. It ain’t fair ta him. This is fuckin’ bullshit and it’s my fault.”

Now he was laughing. 

“What’s so fuckin’ funny?”

“You. How many more red flags do you need before you figure it out?”

“Figure what out?”

“The ‘asshole’ at the bar was me.”

Kaiba snickered to himself and took a sip of his coffee waiting for Joey to rip Atem a new one because he knew it was coming. The line was quiet for a while then Joey snarled into it, “Are ya fuckin’ serious?!”

“I had no idea he was your friend. I was looking all over the castle for you but your sister grabbed me and shoved me out the door with directions to the bar telling me I was late. I waited there for you but you didn’t show up. Do you have any idea how many Joeys go to that bar?”

Joey grumbled, “I-yeah there’s a- Ya coulda fuckin’ called me!”

“I could have. You’re right, but I didn’t know they were your friends.”

“I don’t get how this happened. Ryou wouldn’t let Yuugi go with ya knowin’ ya ain't human.”

“Ryou knew I wasn’t human?”

“Oh yeah. I talk ta him about everythin’ all the time. He knew. Gonna have ta give him a good talk to when I’m done with ya cause he’s in there with Yuugi right now just fuckin’ goin’ along with everythin’ like it’s perfectly fine. So how’d this happen?”

Atem made a weird sound into the phone then sighed, “I might have sent him and Tristan away when Tea left.”

“Whatcha ya fuckin’ mean ‘mighta sent them away’?”

“I’m pureblood. We have our...quirks. I can influence people's thoughts and actions,” Atem said, then exaggerated loudly into the phone, “but I didn’t do that to Yuugi.”

“Ya better fuckin’ not have or I won’t just kill ya, I’ll feed your guts to Ryou’s hounds!”

“I didn’t. You have my word.”

Kaiba tapped his finger on his coffee mug, debating on sitting down or not. “Take his word, Joey. It’s a thing with knights, they don’t break oaths like that.”

“No we don't. His most unholy does not appreciate that in the slightest.” 

“So ya what? Just turned him into one of ya and didn’t even tell him about it? How’s he walkin’ around in the diner? Shouldn’t he be burstin’ into flames or somethin’ stupid like that?”

Atem laughed, but Kaiba didn’t think it was funny at all. It was concerning, and he turned to pour himself another cup of coffee wondering how he was even in the diner to begin with. It almost sounded like he hadn’t fully turned yet and that didn’t make any sense.

“He just turned Joey. He should be in a coma or binging on blood, but apparently he’s not.”

“Nah he ain’t. He’s eatin’ oatmeal cause he’s cold.”

“I was going to talk to him this morning, but he was gone when I woke up. I forgot he mentioned eating at the diner.”

He took his coffee cup over to the island and sat it down, leaving the kitchen to find his laptop. He could still hear Joey and Atem talking while he searched for it. “Yuug’s my best friend, Atem.”

“I know that.”

“Yeah I know ya know that and he’s had a really fuckin’ shitty year and now he’s dead, has no fuckin’ idea and thinks you’re some normal guy he met at a bar that likes him. What do ya think’s gonna happen when he figures out everythin’, huh? He’s been through a lot already.”

“If anyone knows about shitty years, it’s me. I lost my father, was dragged out of my home, lost my standing in the Order that I worked so hard on for over 500 years, have had everyone in court tell me I’m not welcome and so spineless and incompetent that I have to marry someone else who isn’t so they can get things done and on top of that, I have to somehow stop a world war that YOU started. Did I miss something?”

Kaiba set his laptop up by his coffee mug and the phone and pulled the bar stool out from under the island counter. He sat down and picked up his coffee mug talking to Atem while he booted up the computer. “Yes. Your mother’s a bitch and still very much alive.” 

Atem sighed loudly into the phone, "Kaiba.”

“Well he ain’t wrong. I’d fuckin’ put that on the list.” Then, Joey sighed, “Look. I wanted ta bring ya out ta the bar with me. It’s why Serenity thought ya were late. I guess I was right thinkin’ ya guys would hit it off, but I tried really hard ta keep him out of all this. I don’t want him ta get hurt.”

Atem breathed into the phone, sternly responding to Joey in a way he hadn’t heard from him since he came back with him to the castle and it made Kaiba quirk a brow. Joey struck a nerve with him apparently. “I chose Yuugi to be my Crowned Prince. I don’t regret my decision and I’m not apologizing for it. I didn’t know he was your friend, and even if I did, I would’ve done the same thing. I wasn't planning on coming back at all. He changed my mind.”

“What’re ya talkin’ ‘bout?”

“I assumed Joey and I’d be tracking you down come tomorrow night.” Kaiba opened up a few programs he had information on vampire turning and read through it, picking up his coffee mug. “This is more of a surprise than that.”

“...You knew I’d try to leave?”

“Of course I did.”

“...Joey...”

“I suck at keepin’ secrets.”

“Then why are you yelling at me about Yuugi?”

“He’s half dead in a diner after talkin’ ta ya for one night!”

Kaiba pressed his fist to his lips, trying not to laugh. 

“And both of ya stop changin’ the subject. What the hell’re ya talkin’ ‘bout with the prince thing?”

“Court insisted on me marrying someone who opposes Kaiba because they believe he’s brainwashing us.”

Joey laughed, probably a little longer than he should and Kaiba just shook his head reading through logs of Vampire turning and trying to find any symptoms like Yuugi had, but he wasn’t coming up with anything. Which either meant it was new or he was looking in the wrong place. So he started looking up complications with Vampire turning, and what he read kept him out of the conversation.

“So...so wait. Ya didn't just turn him into a vampire, you’re married ta him? And he don’t know?”

“Technically betrothed and no. He doesn’t know.”

“First of all, actually ya know what, hold on.” Kaiba glanced at his phone, shaking his head while he heard Joey muttering and giggling then he came back on. “Okay so let me get this straight. Ya both made deals ta get outta the castle on the same night, which fuckin’ both of ya need cookies or somethin’ for for talkin’ Mahado inta that, but ya went out here ta hang out with me and my friends, I didn’t make it and ya run inta Yuug’ and decide you’re marryin’ him after what? A few hours? Then sent our friends home and some fuckin’ how managed to turn him into a vampire and he has no idea. How did ya even do that?”

“That’s actually a great question. I have no idea.”

“Well ya kinda fucked up, cause he ain’t gonna oppose shit. He’s my best friend.”

Atem sighed, “Yes that’s true.”

“So what are ya gonna say ta him? Can I be there? I gotta be there when ya tell him that he’s not only fuckin’ dead, but somehow betrothed ta a vampire king and might not even get ta the honeymoon cause we’re fuckin’ gonna be at war. Please let me be there.”

Atem muttered something that Kaiba didn’t catch, staring down at the phone while Joey laughed. “Did ya just curse me out? Ha! And Gramps said knowin’ Arabic curse words was a waste of time.”

“He has all day to figure that out,” Kaiba said, “but you’ve already been on the phone with us for a half hour. You should go back inside and make sure Yuugi stays out of the sun as much as you can. We’ll figure it out from here.”

“Fuck it really has been that long. Alright.” 

“I’ll figure something out, Joey. Don’t worry, just take care of Yuugi.”

“I can do that.” Joey paused then snickered, “I dunno what he did ta change your mind, but I’m glad ya decided ta stay.”

“Thank you. I’ll talk to you both tonight.”

“See ya. Hey Kaiba?”

“Hmm?”

“Get some fuckin’ sleep. I ain’t dealin’ with ya bein’ a dick all fuckin’ night.”

He smirked, glancing at the phone and then back to the laptop. “Goodbye pup.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

He saw the disconnect and the phone call went to Atem’s before glancing back over to the laptop. Atem didn’t say anything and he thought he hung up too until he sighed, “So why did you rush him off the phone?”

“Does any of what Joey said about Yuugi sound normal to you?”

“No. He’s not following any kind of normal that I know of,” Atem snickered, “full of surprises.”

“Well from what I'm reading, it isn’t anything good. It sounds like he’s rejecting it.”

“If he was rejecting it he’d be a puddle of agony. That’s not what it sounds like either.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m not sure what’s happening, but we’ll find out soon enough. I’m heading over to your place.”

“Where were you anyway?”

“Mai got me an apartment for the night.”

Kaiba scoffed and shook his head. “Of course she did. I’ll see you when you get here. Maybe we can figure out what’s going on with him before sunset and you need to figure out what you’re going to tell him.”

“Yeah…” 

  
  


\---

Yuugi was incredibly relieved when Joey came back into the diner smiling, right on time, as the waitress brought over their orders. “I’m sittin’ on the others side of Yuug’. Just put my plate there.”

“But that’s by the window.”

“Yeah. Yuug’s hangover. He don’t want the sun in his eyes. Come on, get up!”

Yuugi giggled as Ryou got up and glared at Joey for making him move. He got up too, feeling a little nauseous but he was sure the oatmeal would fix that. Joey slid into the seat, Yuugi and Ryou following him, and immediately dove into his food. Tea sighed, “Really Joey? And what the hell happened to you?”

“Got mugged. It’s fine.”

“Again? Wow. It’s not safe in this city anymore.” 

“Tell me about it. You’re not someone anyone normally fucks with. What's that mean for people like Yuugi and Ryou?”

“Hey! I have three very protective babies thank you very much.”

“And a new protective boyfriend.”

Ryou smiled and lifted his shoulders. “Yeah well…”

“So that means we have to worry about Yuugi.”

“You don’t need to worry about me. I don’t know what happened, but my neighbors did a 180 with me. They’re actually somewhere between nice and non existant.”

Joey snickered, “Good. So what were ya guys talkin’ about when I came in?” 

Tea sat up straight, picking up her fork to eat her eggs. “I met a guy at the bar we went too. He took me home and kissed me good night and was the perfect gentleman.”

“Yeah, you said that. Still say he isn’t interested in you.” Tristan scoffed, then filled his mouth with a big piece of his waffle.

Tea spun around to face Tristan and laid into him with a nice long story about the guy from the bar to prove to Tristan that he actually liked her. She had Yuugi convinced, but what did he know? He thought Adrian was interested in him, got engaged and that went to hell. He thought Atem was interested in him too and maybe he was, but how would he really know? Especially since he wasn’t there, he didn’t call and he had his number. Now he really felt like this was just a one night stand thing and he let himself get his hopes up again for no reason at all. 

“Hey Yuug’?” Joey whispered, or attempted to whisper, “Ya alright?”

“I’m just not feeling very good.”

“Hey guys,” Joey said, getting Tea and Tristan to stop squabbling and glare at him, “I’m takin’ Yuug’ home. He looks like shit.”

“Thanks Joey. Always love to hear how bad I look.”

“Ya know what I mean. Fuckin’ get outta the booth,” he laughed, pushing him into Ryou, who laughed when he almost fell out the other side.

“Let us know when you get home okay, Yuugi?” Tea smiled at him and stood up to give him a hug. 

He hugged her back and started to say he would, but Joey grabbed his arm and dragged him away. “Bye guys!” 

\---

Joey kept glancing at Yuugi as they walked towards his apartment, shielding his eyes from the bright sun. Yuugi muttered under his breath, shying away, “Why is it so bright out here?”

Joey laughed as he helped him up the apartment building stairs. “It’s June. Summer’s kinda like that.”

“Yeah. Hangovers suck.”

Hangover. Right. Probably not. Joey smirked at him and helped him into building. Once inside, Yuugi sprang back to his usual self. He sighed and looked over at him. “You really don’t need to hang out with me today if you don’t want to Joey. I’m going to be fine.”

“Sure ya are, but I missed your birthday. We’ll hang out just us today. It’ll be like an extended birthday.”

Yuugi smiled brightly at him and then hugged himself. “I kind of thought Atem would call me by now.”

“Atem?” Good he actually told him his real name. That had to count for something.

“Yeah. The guy I met last night.” Yuugi stopped in front of his apartment door and searched his pockets for his keys, pulling them out he fiddled with them, sighing and puffing out his cheeks. “I put my number in his phone. I don’t know. Maybe he changed his mind.”

Ha! Yeah right. If he did, Kaiba would kill him first. No need to worry about that. Joey looked away from him and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Maybe he did call ya. When’d ya check your phone last? Ya said he was sleepin’ when ya left.”

“I checked it before I got to the diner,” Yuugi said, opening the door, walking inside and setting his keys on the counter. “I guess I haven’t checked it since then. I have it on ring though.”

Joey watched Yuugi pull his phone out of his back pocket and groan. “What?”

“It’s dead. Damn it!”

He laughed, watching him stomp into his bedroom. “See? He coulda called ya.”

“Yeah and he probably thinks I hate him or something. Urgh!”

“Ya really like this guy huh?”

Yuugi popped his head around the corner of his door and narrowed his eyes at him. “Yes I really do and, unlike someone I know, I was wanting him to meet you.”

“I told ya-”

“We’re not ready for meeting everyone yet,” he said in a mocking voice and disappeared into his room again. “Yeah yeah. I bet you already met his family.”

“I uh, well yeah.”

“And I’m sure he’s met your mom and Serenity.”

“Yeah, but that was an accident.”

“Ah huh… Aren’t I family?”

Joey laughed and leaned against the counter. “Yeah ya are and that’s why you’re meetin’ him tonight.”

Yuugi jumped into the doorway staring at him with wide eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah. He’s comin’ over after he’s off work.”

“Best birthday present ever!”

Joey laughed and shook his head. “You’re a fuckin’ dork, Yuug’.”

“What? This is a huge deal! I’m gonna be the first of our friends to meet this mystery guy you’ve been with for what? A year? We have bets going.”

Well, technically second. Ryou met him already, but Joey was more hung up on the mention of bets. “What? Bets on what?”

“You’ll see," he giggled and disappeared again then came back into the kitchen wrapped in a blanket. 

“Still cold?”

“Yeah,” he huffed, blowing his bangs out of his face and smiled. “I feel like shit.”

“I bet. Ya got what? An hour of sleep and drank a shit ton.” Joey snickered and followed Yuugi into the living room. “So what’s this guy like?”

“He’s… charming, and genuine I guess is the best way to put it.”

If ‘charming’ meant what he thought it did, he was going to kill him. King or not. “And?”

“He’s tired of his job like I am.” Yuugi turned to face him, smiling. “He actually said he’d move with me to a different city and he was serious.”

“How’d ya know?”

He shook his head and looked down at the coffee table, wrapping the blanket tighter around him. “I could hear it in his voice. I don’t know. I just know he was serious.”

“So, is that what you’re doin’?”

“No! Wow that would be crazy, wouldn’t it?” Yuugi laughed and shook his head. “I can’t move and start over. But… It was nice to talk about. It was nice meeting someone who understands, you know? I just.. I didn't think I’d feel like this again. I really didn’t want to get involved with anyone after Adrian. I wanted to take a break.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Added perk, I’m almost 100% sure he’s from Egypt. I could hear it when he was talking, though he’s good at trying to cover up his accent. Wonder why he does that?” Yuugi smiled, looking down at the coffee table. “I feel like I met my dream guy… It’s kind of romantic when you think about it.”

Suddenly Yuugi’s expression went from wistful to pained. “Hey, What’s wrong?”

“I really don’t feel good.”

Joey started to offer for him to go to sleep when Yuugi threw the blanket off and leaned forward, pale as a sheet. Next thing he knew, blood poured from his mouth and he coughed, staring at the puddle of blood on his carpet and coffee table with wide horrified eyes. Joey jumped up and bolted for the linen closet and grabbed a few towels. He ran back into the room, trying to stay as calm as possible while Yuugi was freaking out. He put the towel on Yuugi’s mouth and rest his hand on Yuugi’s back, making him look at him. Yuugi’s eyes glistened with tears as he stared at him. “What’s wrong with me?”

“I uh... Shit,” Joey muttered curses under his breath and reached up to move the neck of Yuuig’s sweater. “Oh wow…”

He’d never seen a mark like that before. Sure, Kaiba’s were different. Four instead of two. But this. This was like… six? Fuck! Twelve?! He remembered Kaiba explained why he had four, but staring at the aggravated bite on Yuugi’s neck, he couldn’t remember a damn word. 

“What’s wrong?”

“...Nothin’.”

“I just threw up blood Joey. Why aren’t you dragging me to a hospital?”

“Hosp- I … Fuck.” He smoothed his hair back and shook his head, trying to figure out what to do. “I think ya should lay down.”

Yuugi tried to laugh, then made the same pained expression and blood poured over the towel. He coughed again, shifting the towel over his mouth and groaned. Joey didn’t know what to do. He was out of ideas. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. Shakily he called Kaiba and put the phone to his ear, holding it with his shoulder so he could keep Yuugi steady as he swayed. 

“Get lost, pup?”

“Why’s he throwin’ up blood?”

“What?”

“Yuug’s throwin’ up blood! And what the fuck is this on his neck? I dunno what I’m doin’.”

“He’s still awake?”

“Yeah he’s fuckin’ awake!” 

Joey waited for him to say something, and he was, but not to him. It sounded like he was talking to someone else away from the phone, then he came back. “We’ll be right there. Be careful Joey.”

“Why do I need ta… Kaiba?” Joey pulled the phone away from his ear and rolled his eyes. The bastard hung up on him. “Hang in there Yuug’. Help’s comin’.”

“I’m… really hungry. I feel like my stomach is eating me from the inside out.”

“Be careful got it. Read ya loud and clear,” Joey muttered, picking Yuugi up and carrying him back to the bedroom. “I’ll get ya somethin’. Just don’t move. Alright?”

“Yeah...”

He set him down on the bed and covered him with a few blankets, then set a towel down on the bedside. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Yuugi nodded then grabbed his hand as he started to move away. “‘M sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It ain’t your fault.” He squeezed Yuugi’s hand then moved away from the bed, rushing out of the room towards the kitchen. He was going to kill both of them when they got there. He tried to think of what to do when his phone rang. He thought Kaiba was calling him back, but it was Ryou.

He answered it, putting the phone to his ear and held it there with his shoulder while he looked through Yuugi’s cabinets for something to give him. “Hey now’s not a good time.”

“Is Yuugi feeling any better?”

“Nah he just threw up blood everywhere.”

“Oh good.”

“...What?”

“Good.”

“How the fuck is that a good thing?”

“Out with the old and in with the new. It means my potion is working.”

“So it’s your fault he’s throwing up blood?”

“Yep.”

He sighed, relenting to the fact he couldn’t help Yuugi if he wanted to. He just had to wait. So he leaned against the counter, staring at the sink. “So what the fuck’s goin’ on?”

“Remember when you said you didn't want to know what else I knew? Well turns out, Yuugi’s not 100% human. Though Merlin and I are still working out what he’ll be. So, out with his old human blood, in with his new vampire blood.”

“What’re ya talkin’ ‘bout?”

“I think that Yuugi is the descendant of a long, long, long line of humans who at one point in time, thousands of years ago, might of hooked up with something _not_ human. It’s so small, but Merlin could smell it. We think it’s a vampire, but we really don’t know. Like I said, really REALLY small.”

Joey frowned at the wall when he heard a loud thud against it. Those assholes never know when to quit do they? “So what's gonna happen ta Yuug’.”

“Well if I didn’t give him that potion, probably months and months of being cold and feeling like death until one side won out, but I helped it along so… I have no idea. It’s exciting isn’t it?”

“No it ain’t fuckin’ excitin’! What the hell is wrong with ya?”

Ryou giggled, “What’ll be really exciting is if he turns out to not be part vampire at all and it’s something else. Oooo maybe he’s got a dormant part of some of the old gods.”

“Ryou all you’re doin’ is freakin’ me out.”

He giggled again and sighed, “I know you’re really worried about Yuugi being part of everything, but Joey, he’s probably the most protected out of all of us now that he is.”

Joey kept staring at the wall, hearing more thuds and what he thought was a scream, then it all went quiet. He should probably be concerned, but fuck those guys. Apparently they messed with the wrong person. “Ya knew this was gonna happen, didn’t ya?”

“No. Actually I figured you finally talked everyone into letting Atem come to the party and wanted him to have fun without anyone bothering him. This was a surprise.”

“And ya ain’t worried?”

“Nope.” Joey glanced back down the hall to Yuugi’s room. He was really worried about him, but Ryou seemed perfectly fine with it and he’d be the one to know. Maybe he was wrong and this was better in the long run. He still didn’t like it. Ryou hummed into the phone, “You didn’t see them together, Joey. It was adorable. I haven’t seen Yuugi happy like that in a time.”


	3. Chapter 3

Atem ran up the stairs of the apartment building behind Kaiba. How was he still awake? He started to wonder if Yuugi was entirely human. It would explain the strange behavior, but wouldn't he have tasted it in his blood? Smelled it on his skin? Maybe not, but that was doubtful. What was more likely, Yuugi’s body was rejecting the transformation and that terrified him. The last rejection he saw was centuries ago, but he still remembered it vividly. That poor girl was in pure agony for hours until she died. It wasn’t something he thought he could stomach with Yuugi. He barely handled that.

Kaiba rounded the staircase and ran into the apartment, Atem right behind him. Joey caught him in the kitchen and ended his phone call to yell at Kaiba about Yuugi. Atem watched and listened to them, realizing Yuugi was more than a friend and somewhere on the level of family to Joey. This is exactly how he’d imagine him reacting if this happened to Serenity. He stood on the welcome mat, debating on finding a different way to talk to Yuugi than through Joey. They weren’t going to win any kind of argument with him and he knew it. He took a deep breath through his nose and sidestepped out of the doorway, pausing to see if they noticed. Although they didn’t and he should be happy about that, but he was transfixed by the smell of blood, a lot of blood, and it wasn’t coming from Yuugi’s apartment either.

Tilting his head to the side, he looked down the hallway at the closed doors. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, but the smell of blood came from down that hall. His teeth ached and he sighed, taking a silent step down the hall. Now was not the time to be hungry. He stopped at the far end of the hall, looking at two doors adjacent to each other. One smelled of blood, the other did not, so he turned and reached up to knock on the door. He hardly hit it and it opened, slowly, showing darkness. He looked around and stepped into the room, dimly lit by the light in the hallway. It looked like a struggle happened, blood covering the floor, furniture, and walls. He raised a brow and took another step. “Hello?”

“Atem?”

He blinked. So it was Yuugi. He walked further into the darkness, noting a broken window and flowing curtains, filling the apartment with sunlight periodically. A large gust of wind lit it up enough for him to see Yuugi, sitting with his back up against a wall, covered in blood. He smiled and walked over to kneel in front of him. “This is just a waste of blood,” he snickered, wiping some of it from Yuugi’s chin. “Poor table manners too.”

“Who are you?” Yuugi whispered, then shook his head. “No.  _ What  _ are you?”

Atem lowered his mask and sat down on the floor, sighing as he looked Yuugi over. He looked awful, even by vampire standards; dull eyes, dark lips and bluish skin. So his fears were right, Yuugi was rejecting it, but if that was the case, why was he so calm? Shouldn't he be in agony? “I’m a vampire.”

“Ah.” 

Atem frowned at the casual response.

“It makes sense. The mirror. I thought I was just too drunk, but you weren't in it, were you?”

Atem shook his head, smirking. “That’s clever of you. It was a strange mirror. They don’t make them like that anymore.”

“Yeah, I read something about that a while ago.”

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m not. I don’t feel anything.” Yuugi tilted his head, sliding it against the wall. “I’m not even mad that you did this to me and I don’t care that I killed them. I just feel… nothing.”

“That’s normal.”

Yuugi looked away and nodded. “Yeah.”

Reaching out, Atem lifted Yuugi’s chin and smiled. “It will pass though. Despite what some believe, Vampires do feel things.”

“When’s it going to go away? I hate it. I can’t even remember feeling anything.”

“I…I don’t know.”

Yuugi looked at him, expressionless. “Don’t do this all the time?”

“No. You’re the first.”

“First what?”

“I’d rather tell you that when you’re feeling more yourself.”

“Why?”

“I want it to mean something to you.”

Yuugi took a deep breath and sighed. He started to say something when someone burst into the room. “Yuug’!”

Kaiba swept around him and closed the door, flipping on the light. “This is a disaster.”

“Mr. Kaiba? Why are you here?” Joey smiled and started to answer him when Yuugi waved him off. “No. I don’t want to know right now.” He stood up and looked around the room. 

Joey frowned at him, then gave Atem the most vicious death glare he’d probably ever received in his long life time and he definitely deserved it. He looked away from him, glancing back at Yuugi and forced a smile. “Come on, Yuugi. Let’s get back to your apartment.”

He nodded absentmindedly and walked through them to the door, opening it up and walking out. Joey threw his hands to his sides and huffed, “What the hell’s goin’ on?”

“I’m still not sure,” Atem said, stepping out into the hallway to make sure Yuugi went into his apartment. “I think you both should go back home. I’ll take Yuugi with me.”

Kaiba swept around Joey and grabbed his arm. “That’s a bad idea, Atem. He’s not ready to-”

“Enjoy the day off Kaiba. I’ll call you if I need you.”

“Yeah,” Joey spat, looking around the blood soaked apartment. “Day off my ass. We gotta do somethin’ about this.”

Kaiba flashed Joey a rare smile, and gently lead him out anyway. Atem made his way towards Yuugi’s apartment. After he walked in, he shut the door and locked it behind him, just in case. Those two were stubborn on a good day. “Yuugi?”

“In here.”

He walked through the apartment, seeing picture frames of Yuugi and his friends, then some of him as a child with his grandfather, it looked like. He stared at that one for awhile, thinking he knew him or someone who looked like him but he couldn’t remember for the life of him who it would be. Then he glanced at one of Yuugi and his mom. The apartment was fairly plain in decorations aside from gaming figurines and other toys littering the bookshelves and entertainment center. 

He made his way down the hallway towards the room Yuugi called from. He heard water running and peaked around the door frame. Yuugi pulled his shirt off and tossed it carelessly on the sink. He got a good look at the marks all over him. Maybe he went a little overboard. Yeah he definitely went overboard, but he couldn’t help himself and he did try. Not that Yuugi was any better. He got a good look at himself in the bathroom mirror of that apartment he ‘borrowed’.

The vacant, dull look in his eyes hurt Atem to see. He never wanted to take the life from them. “Yuugi.”

He stopped moving and turned to look at him. “Hmm?”

“I’m sorry.”

Yuugi nodded, and looked away, frowning at the tile like he didn’t care for the color, then looked back up at him. “That’s a start.”

Atem snickered, “A start?”

“I’m not mad, but I will be. It’s a start.”

“That’s fair. Do you need any help?” When Yuugi shook his head, Atem leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest. “So what are you like when you’re mad?”

Yuugi looked back up at him, confused. “What kind of question is that?”

“It’s a real question. You can tell a lot about someone with how they handle anger.”

Yuugi seemed to be thinking about it as he moved around the bathroom, turning the water off and taking his pants off. He got into the bathtub and sank down into it, laying his head on the side of the tub. Atem walked into the bathroom and sat on the floor beside the tub, leaning his back against it and staring at the metal strip separating the tile and carpet. 

Yuugi took a deep relaxing breath and sighed, “I don’t like people being mad at me… but I guess I talk too much. That’s what Joey and Tea say, anyway.”

He looked at Yuugi. “Talk to much?”

“I hate being mad. It’s exhausting. I want it over with. The last time I was mad, it was at Tea for forgetting to pick me up from work for three hours. She kept ignoring my calls so I went over to her apartment and argued with her for…” Yuugi opened his eyes and furrowed his brow. “Wow all night. I kept her up all night over that.”

“Got your three hours back.”

Yuugi nodded. “I did. Ryou and Tea are the worst. They think you should get the silent treatment until death.”

Atem laughed. “Mahado’s like that.”

“Who’s Mahado?”

“Archduke of Egypt and my Royal Adviser.”

Yuugi just stared at him, expressionless, then shifted in the tub frowning. “Wait, what?”

“Mahado is Archduke of-”

“No I got that. What do you mean ‘your Royal Adviser’?”

“I want to talk about this when you’re better.”

“I want to talk about it now. What do you mean your Royal Adviser?” Yuugi lifted his head from the side of the tub and set a dripping wet hand on the edge. “You’re... So you’re what? The king or something?”

Atem exhaled through his nose and looked away from him. “Yeah.”

Yuugi was quiet, the only sound in the bathroom was the water in the tub sloshing around from him moving. He splashed some water in his face then laid back down on the side of the tub. He could feel Yuugi staring a hole in the back of his head, so he reluctantly turned to look at him. “What?”

“So how did you get to be king?”

“How is anyone king?”

“I don’t know. You could have married the queen or something.”

Atem laughed and shook his head. “I wouldn't be here if that was the case.”

“So your dad was king?”

“Yes.”

“What was he like?”

“The way most talk about him, he was the most respected, powerful, influential vampire to walk the earth. One to rival our Dark Emperor.”

“How are you doing?”

“Poorly.”

Yuugi kept looking at him, expressionless and dull. “I doubt that.”

“Tell the court that for me.”

“I will.” 

Atem reached up and brushed Yuug’s hair out of his face and started to get up. “I’ll leave you to your bath.”

“I'm hungry.”

He smiled at him, seeing his eyes tinge red. “Me too.”

\----

Atem thought it would be safer to take Yuugi out. After all, he needed to learn to feed without making a mess. A rookie mistake. An adorable rookie mistake. Years spending time with Joey would certainly explain his messy habits, and even with several attempts, he was still a mess. Maybe that’s just how Yuugi was going to be. It would drive his mother crazy and he swore his father turned over in his grave, but Atem thought it was endearing. Yuugi let the lifeless body of some thug in the alleyway drop to the ground in an unceremonious heap. Blood dripped from his chin as he casually commented, “I’m still not doing it right.”

Atem chuckled and walked over to him. “You have all of eternity to get it right, Yuugi. Don’t worry about it.”

Yuugi kept his eyes on him as he wiped some of the blood from his face and licked his fingers. He wondered if Yuugi was finally full, but it didn’t appear that way. His eyes were still red and hungry; dull, vacant, red, hungry and absolutely nothing else. 

“Can… Can I see my grandpa?”

“Are you sure that’s wise? You’re still hungry.”

“I don’t…” Yuugi frowned, turning away from him to head down the alleyway.

He didn’t finish his sentence, instead he just kept walking. Apparently he thought it was fine. Atem wondered about his grandfather anyway after seeing his picture in Yuugi’s apartment. They walked down the moonlit street side by side in complete silence, until a small shop on the corner came into view. The lights were still on despite it being almost midnight and an older gentleman walked up to the door, flipping the sign from open to closed. He looked tired and worried and so familiar. Who was he?

He glanced at Yuugi, who’d stopped to watch his grandfather sweep the floor of the shop through the window. Still expressionless. “I thought this would help.”

“Help what?”

“Make me feel something. I think-” he said, before taking a deep breath. “I think I'm doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“I don’t know. It just… I think I’m just scared.” Yuugi shrugged his shoulders and hummed, like it was more of an observation by someone else than someone who was actually scared. Atem blinked, watching him turned away and walk back where they came from. 

He sped up to catch him and gently grabbed his hand. When Yuugi turned around, it drew Atem’s attention to some of the blood he missed on his neck. He brushed his fingers over it, but Yuugi stopped him from moving his hand away. He looked up at his troubled frown. Yuugi’s expression twisted in frustration and thought as he looked into Atem’s eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing as Yuugi’s eyes changed from red to the beautiful bright amethyst they were before. He almost smiled then everything changed. 

He sucked in a sharp breath and reached up for his mouth. “I… Oh god! I killed those people!”

For the first time since he chose Yuugi, Atem realized he was being selfish. Yuugi was so caring and sweet, this lifestyle went against everything he believed in. This transition would be very difficult for him, but he was what Atem wanted. What he needed. His fingers twitched at his sides as warmth flooded through them. He used to do this as a knight, calm down the new vampires from some dumb ass rogue thinking he could make his own army or obsessed with some poor human. This was their life now, this was Yuugi’s life now. “Yuugi, everything’s going to be alright.” 

“I killed them! I… I  _ wanted _ to kill them. How could I? I-” 

“You’re a Vampire Yuugi. You did what you needed to do to survive.” He smirked, lifting his shoulders. “I’m impressed you went after bad guys instead of grabbing the first person to cross your path. Full of surprises.”

Yuugi seemed to accept that at first, still curled into himself. Then he glaring at Atem, fury burning in his eyes. “Why did you do this to me?”

Atem moved forward, reaching out to him, a little surprised when Yuugi didn't pull back or bat his hand away. He cupped the side of his face lifting his chin and smiled. “I didn’t lie to you, Yuugi. I want to spend eternity with you.”

Yuugi frowned and blinked at him like that was the single most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard and he wasn’t sure whether to burst into laughter or fear for his life. It more or less calmed him down enough for him to stop panicking, but he was still looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

He moved forward, capturing Yuug’s lips in a soft kiss. He didn’t kiss him back, which stung a little, but with how he was looking at him, he expected it. Atem sighed, starting to take a step back when Yuugi reached out and grabbed his wrist. Yuugi frowned at him, skeptically searching his eyes until it looked like he couldn’t focus anymore. He blinked a lot, his frown deepening, and he swayed. 

“I-I don’t believe you,” he breathed, and collapsed in Atem’s arms, startling him enough that he almost let Yuugi fall. 

Of course. Now he sleeps.

\---

Yuugi woke up feeling like he was sleeping on the softest fluffiest warmest cloud in the history of clouds. It smelled like lavender and chamomile; perfect for sleeping. He almost drifted back to sleep when his stomach growled. “Urghh…”

Maybe he should get up and make himself some pancakes. Although pancakes didn’t sound that great. Maybe cereal? No. Hmmm. He stretched and groaned, rolling onto his stomach and taking a deep breath of the lavender sheets. His bed didn’t smell like this, but maybe Atem’s did. He felt his stomach lurch with embarrassment, remembering going home with him after drinking and waiting for him to call him after breakfast. He must’ve returned to Atem’s place at some point, but he didn’t remember going back there. The last thing he remembered, before having the weirdest dream of his entire life, was sitting on the sofa in his apartment with Joey. Yuugi pushed himself up, screwing his eyes closed. At this point, he could literally be in anyone's bed. Taking a deep breath, he opened one eye.

Yep, definitely not his bed. 

The sheets were silk and blood red. He looked down at himself, dressed in white silk pajamas with some strange looking crest on the breast pocket. He ran his fingers over the crest then looked up at the elaborately carved wooden four post bed. Gasping, he slowly turned around, sitting up in bed and taking in the sight of the most beautiful room he’d ever seen, “Wow.”

Matching heavy wooden furniture sat against the walls. A porcelain pitcher and bowl sat on the nightstand beside the bed, and a silver tray with teapot, tea cup, and a rose sat on a long dresser against the wall across from him. A lounge chair and small table with a few books on it to his right in front of a stone fireplace. The lamp beside the chair had a stained glass lampshade with a similar crest on it. Where was he? 

Slinking out of the bed, and wiggling his toes on the fluffy white rug beneath his feet, he walked over to the tray of tea and the beautiful rose. He poured himself a cup, but the tea wasn’t any kind of tea he’d ever seen before. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear it was blood; matching the thick red of the rose petals. But that was impossible, so he lifted the cup and brought it to his lips. He took a sip and felt his entire body relax. That hit the spot and it tasted like chamomile. It had to be tea. 

Smiling to himself, he took the cup with him and walked over to the lounge chair, leaning over the small table beside it. He tried to read the title of the book, but it was in a language he didn’t know. Frowning, he took another sip when some clothes caught his eye. He walked over to them, setting the tea cup down on the small table with the books. He had to admit he loved them as he ran his fingertips over the pants. They reminded him of Atem’s clothes at the bar and that didn’t make any sense. They looked like his size and he couldn’t find his old clothes anywhere, so he put them on, a little disgruntled that they fit a little loose, but not bad. 

Satisfied, he picked up the tea cup and looked at the bedroom door. He should probably go see what was going on, but the idea of leaving the safety of the room in a strange place all by himself was daunting. He walked over to the dresser, finished his cup of tea, and set the cup down before staring at the door again. He steeled his nerves and reached out for the crystal door knob. “One, two, three.”

He turned the knob and opened the door. It opened up into a long hallway with more elegant tables with vases filled with flowers on them. Sure they were nice, but he had his attention pulled to the windows straight ahead of him. They stood at least 15 feet tall spanning from floor to ceiling and the entire length of the hallway. The view was just as breathtaking as the bedroom; a snowy mountain range set behind a large lake with a bright full moon that bathed the entire thing in moonlight. “I don’t have this good of an imagination,” Yuugi mumbled to himself and walked over to the glass windows.

He touched the cold glass, pressing his palm into it, then moved his hand away. With how cold the glass was, he should have a hand print fogging up the glass, but he didn’t. “Weird.”

“Oh!”

Yuugi jumped almost a foot in the air and spun around. 

The young woman, dressed in white and black like a maid, immediately bowed. “Forgive me, your majesty. I didn’t realize you were awake. Master will wish to see you.”

“I uh… oh okay.” Yuugi blinked at her and followed her when she turned sharply and walked back down the hall. 

She lead him through what he swore was a castle. He was in a castle in the mountains. How the hell did he get to a castle in the mountains? She pushed open an enormous wooden door and walked into another room. The door looked so heavy he stopped and marveled that she was even able to shift it. She disappeared into the room, making him bolt inside after her, in case he lost her. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at when he stepped inside. A large personal library. He really was in a castle. Turning his attention from the books to the young woman, he watched her bow her head. “You wished to see his majesty when he awoke, Master Kaiba.”

Yuugi stared at the man sitting in a lounge chair near the stone fireplace. He wore dark clothes with gloves and a cowl that covered his head. He looked up at them with piercing blue eyes. He recognized him immediately, but what was he doing here? He remembered hearing Kaiba left Domino City after he got his new job, but why would he come here? Where is here?!

He tilted his head to the side, eyeing Yuugi up then setting the book he was reading on the table. “Thank you, Mara. That will be all.”

She bowed again, then left the room. Yuugi watched her leave, but a woman standing beside one of the book shelves stole his attention. She smiled at him, bright red lips and long blonde hair. He recognized her too. She worked with Kaiba right? That’s what Joey said.

“How are you feeling, Yuugi?” Kaiba asked, pulling his attention back to him.

How did he know his name? “I uh. Fine I guess.”

“He seems perfectly normal to me, sugar.”

Kaiba scoffed and stood up. “Maybe.” He walked over to Yuugi, towering over him with a skeptical scowl. Before Yuugi could wrap his mind around what was happening he reached up with a gloved hand and grabbed the top of his hair, tilting his head to the side. 

“Hey!”

But he didn’t stop or let him go. Instead he held his head there and glared at his neck. “Come look at this.”

She sauntered over to his side and leaned closer too, frowning at first then her eyes widened. “That’s new.”

“It didn't look like that earlier. It's almost like it's healing.”

“Are you sure he was human before."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and sighed through his nose in frustration. 

"What? Your judgement isn’t always the best. You adopted a stray remember?”

“You’re partly to blame for that.”

“And proud of it.” She laughed, walking away to sprawl out over the chase lounge. “My judgement isn’t always the best either.”

Yuugi finally found his voice and pulled out of Kaiba’s grip. He huffed and glared back at him. “What’s going on?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I went back to my apartment after breakfast with my best friend, now I’m… I don’t know where I am. Is Joey okay? Is he here?”

She whistled, then started to laugh, “That sucks for Mr. High and Mighty.”

“You should show some respect.”

“He’s not here. I can call him what I wish.”

Kaiba turned back to Yuugi, no longer glaring, but definitely not in anyway friendly. “Joey’s fine. Do you remember me?”

“Yeah. You’re Seto Kaiba CEO of Kaiba corp.”

“I’m also Archduke of Domino,” he said coldly and turned to face the woman on the sofa, “This is Mai Valentine, Grand Duchess of the eastern part of the United States.”

Mai. That’s right. That’s what Joey said her name was. She smirked at him, kicking her foot. “Pleasure to meet you, sweetheart.”

“Hi… You already seem to know who I am.”

“We do.”

“What’s going on? Where am I?”

“You’re at the Castle Vol Luxious. As for what's going on,” Kaiba took a step back, then turned to walk back to his chair. “I’m not really sure.”

Yuugi got the distinct impression he should follow him and sit down, so he did. Just as he sat on the velvet sofa across from him, Mai sat up and made a come hither gesture. “Open up, buttercup.”

“What?”

“Open your mouth. Let me see.”

He hesitated but did as she asked. Not good enough apparently, she scooted over to him and practically yanked his jaw down. “Hmmm. What’s with the baby teeth? Not hungry?”

Hungry? Actually he still was. Next thing he knew his whole mouth felt weird, almost like it ached and itched, but not that either. Mai moved her hand away positively giddy. “Oh that’s  _ much _ better.” She smirked at him and leaned back on the lounge. “How the hell did he manage that?”

Yuugi glanced over at Kaiba, surprised when he tossed the book he had in his hand into the fire. “Why did you do that?”

“Because misinformation is more dangerous than no information.” He leaned back in the chair and brought his gloved hand to his mouth, scowling at the ground. Then he looked back up at Yuugi. “What is your last name again?”

“Mouto.”

He stood up and crossed the room, walking along the bookcases searching for something. Not that Yuugi had an idea what that could be. He huffed and looked down at his lap. Apparently no one was going to tell him what was going on. 

“Well, while you’re waiting for our puppy to come back and eat everything in sight, I’ll take Prince Charming to see his majesty.”

“That is wise,” he said absentmindedly. Yuugi was surprised he heard her.

She stood up from the lounge and held her hand out to him, smiling slightly more pleasant than before. He took her hand and stood, following her out of the library into the hall. She glanced back at him over her shoulder, still smirking. “You’re not at all what I expected.”

“What were you expecting?”

“Honestly? Someone who has a stick up his ass like Kaiba.” She laughed, then looked straight ahead. “I wasn’t expecting someone as sweet as you. Hope he realizes they’ll probably eat you alive in court.”

“You keep saying court and royal and castle and I honestly have no idea what's going on,” Yuugi huffed and stopped walking altogether. “I don’t even know who you’re taking me to see.”

She stopped as well, swinging out her hip as she turned back to face him. “I’m taking you to see your king, sweetheart. Who else would you see?”

“What king? What are you talking about?” Yuugi threw his hands to his sides and huffed. “Why am I here?”

Mai rest her hand on her hip. “You’re the Grand Crowned Prince. This is your castle. Where else would you be?”

“I’m not a prince of anything. I’m a glorified secretary for a gaming company in Domino City and I don’t own a castle. I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment that I pay way too much in rent for.”

Mai laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. He didn’t think it was funny, but how genuine her laughter sounded made him smile despite himself. She calmed her laughter and took his hands in hers. Clearing her throat, she swung his hands to the sides, just like something Tea would do. “Sweety. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re a Vampire.”

Yuugi blinked.

“And your kinda sorta betrothed to the King of Vampires.”

Yuugi blinked again.

“So this is your castle-” Mai let go of his hands and started to fiddle with his shirt collar straightening it and dusting off his sleeves- “you’re going to see your betrothed-" she took his hands again, swinging them at his sides- “and then you’re going to be eaten alive by court since you’re obviously completely in the dark about everything and they are like vultures on a good day and today, sweet thing, is not a good day.”

“...You’re joking.”

Mai turned him around and pushed him over to a mirror above a wooden end table. She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled at his reflection. “Open up, buttercup.”

And now he was terrified, because he could clearly see fangs in Mai’s mouth. What if she was right? He hesitated, slowly opening his mouth. Nothing. “See I’m-”

“Those are really cute baby teeth.” 

“I don’t have baby teeth,” Yuugi muttered, feeling the same annoyance from it as everyone who mocked him for being short and having softer features. He wasn’t a child. Next thing he knew, his teeth elongated. Not just the typical two upper fangs that vampires have in the movies, but the two teeth surrounding those, on top and bottom. What’d he have like… that’s 12 fangs not two!

“Vampire, Grand Crowned Prince and somehow, despite your human origin, you’re a Pureblood. Go figure.”

She let him go, her fingers brushing along his shoulders as she walked out of the mirrors scope. He turned to follow her and she pointed to her mouth, giving him a toothy grin. “See this,” she said through gritted teeth. When he nodded she spoke normally. “I have 8 fangs. Three here,” she pointed to one side, then the other. “Three here, and two on the bottom. I’m a Grand Duchess. Number of fangs means how close to human and how close to Pureblood we are.”

“What about Kaiba? Is he a Vampire too?”

“He sure is. He’s Archduke of Domino, your home country, but he only has 4 fangs.”

“So how did-”

“Kaiba, unlike the rest of us blood obsessed slobs, is taking the whole royal system by storm. Kings can give out titles and he knows exactly how to please a king.” Then she chuckled darkly, “and how to turn around to piss them off.”

“So… who’s the king?”

“Your betrothed of course.”

Yuugi sighed, shaking his head, “I’m not betrothed to anyone.”

“Truly?” 

He followed her down the hallway his mind a complete haze. Who could this King guy be and how did he manage to get in this situation to begin with? He walked with her through two large wooden doors, which she pushed open just as easily as the maid did. He was still impressed, but followed close behind her into a long room. Tapestries with the same crest as the one on his PJ’s hung from the impossibly tall ceiling, lining a red carpet that lead up to a throne. Yuugi felt his heart jump into his throat when he saw Atem sprawled out over it, kicking his foot over the arm, his head on his palm, glaring at his shoes like they lied to him about something.

“The Grand Crowned Prince has awoken, your majesty.”

When his eyes met Yuugi’s, he immediately shifted, swinging his legs back onto the ground and standing up. “Yuugi?”

He couldn’t find the words. He tried to think. He really did, but Atem looked absolutely stunning in black and red, with a crown of black on his head. He thought up to this point, that everything might be real, but there was just no way Atem could be real. This had to be some crazy drunken dream. Was he dreaming this because of their night together? Wait a minute…

Atem rushed over to him, wrapping his arms around him and sighed with so much relief it almost stopped Yuugi from his train of thought. Almost. 

He remembered being with him after the bar, and throwing him off the bed, the breakfast he had with his friends and feeling like a living Popsicle. He remembered coming back to the apartment and throwing up blood everywhere and going to lay down. He remembered sneaking out of his apartment and killing his obnoxious drug addict neighbors who mugged him the first day he moved in. He remembered Atem talking to him, telling him who he was and feeling nothing. He remembered feeling nothing. Then feeling so scared he couldn't think. The last thing he remembered was Atem kissing him.

“I’m so mad at you.” He managed to breathe out through a tight jaw, but he hugged him back anyway. 

Atem just held him tighter. “Good.”

“Where’s Joey?”

He moved back and smiled. “It’s a full moon. He’s out playing I imagine.”

“Playing?”

“Yes. We have a lot to talk about… but I bet you’re hungry.”

Yuugi smiled, feeling his teeth poking his lips. “I am.”

Atem’s sweet smile twisted into a confused frown and he tilted his head. Yuugi’s smile disappeared too, but Atem didn't look upset, if anything he looked pleasantly surprised, then he looked over at Mai. She lifted her shoulders, grinning like a cat. “I was about to ask you, but you look just as confused as we did.”

“What’s wrong?”

Atem shook his head and his smile came back. “Let’s get breakfast, then we’ll talk. You have to be starving. You’ve been asleep for three weeks.”

"I what?!" Yuugi gasped, "Three weeks?!”


	4. Chapter 4

Breakfast was weird. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but this wasn’t it. Atem explained that with technology and medical advances, both on the vampires side and human side, they didn’t  _ have _ to attack humans, mostly. They could use blood packs. So it was very much like walking around with a Capri Sun, and trying desperately to pretend it really was a Capri Sun and not one of those bags they use in hospitals for transfusions or who knows what else. Atem also explained that they put a preservative in the blood to be able to use the blood packs more like a human would a normal drink. So they could put it in water bottles, coffee mugs, and tea cups like he had in the bedroom when he woke up. 

So it  _ was _ blood… Good to know… 

Atem also made a long point about how the old vampires hated them and still feed off humans, saying some of the ‘flavor and entertainment’ was lost to the packs. Which he could understand, up until Atem agreed with them. Yuugi didn’t know if Atem was serious, though. He gave him a wink and snickered when Yuugi stared at him completely appalled. 

The topic of conversation and the ‘breakfast’ food part was strange enough, but he thought he’d be sitting down somewhere or, at the very least, staying in one spot. That was not the case. Atem eagerly wanted him to see the entire castle. The whole thing: every room, every nook, every cranny; and introduced him to every person they passed by. It was weird, but it banished all the fears he had before. He was afraid that Atem didn’t have any feelings for him, whatsoever, because he didn’t. He couldn’t feel a damn thing, but he was feeling so many things now. 

Atem hung on every word he said and attempted to explain things as best he could, especially when he asked about their history. Best he got out of Atem was, there’s a library. Apparently Vampire history wasn’t a hugely popular topic, unless they wanted it to be and Atem didn't want it to be. He believed everyone was stuck in the past trying to prevent some doomsday that happened before, waiting for it to happen again. He believed in looking forward to the changes on the horizon. That sounded like king material to him. He still didn’t know what the problem was. 

Atem lead him outside to a beautiful courtyard covered in snow that still fell. He wasn’t cold like he should be, and that was strange since he wasn’t wearing a coat. “Do you need another one?” Atem murmured, looking down at the empty pouch he had in his hands.

“No. I think 8 is plenty.”

“8 is more than plenty,” he chuckled, holding his hand out to take it from him.

Yuugi handed it over and watched him walk to a bin to throw it in. When he came back, Yuugi fiddled with the edge of his sleeves to keep his nerves in check. Not that it was helping that much, especially when Atem wrapped his arm around his waist, resting his hand on his hip and walking beside him through the frozen courtyard; the snow crunching beneath their feet. He couldn’t breathe. How was he supposed to breathe?

“I bet you have a million questions.”

He laughed. “Yeah. I have a million questions and I’m sure I’ll have at least a billion follow up questions.”

“Like?”

“Like where are we? What are you the king of exactly? You said Joey was here, but why would he be here? He’s not a vampire too, is he?”

Atem laughed. “No.” 

“That’s a relief… I guess. And what am I supposed to do? Like, I don’t know how to be a vampire. Do you just go along with it?” He sighed and looked down at the snow. “I don’t know anything about you…”

Atem pointed to a swing under a gazebo and lead him gently over to it. They sat down on the swing and Yuugi looked down at his hands. He still couldn’t get over how he wasn’t cold. Atem shifted and laid his elbow over the back of the swing, facing him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have much time to explain anything. I’m King of Vampires and you’re in Castle Vol Luxious in Domino… somewhere. I think.” Yuugi frowned at him and he laughed. “I’m not from here. I have no idea where we are either.”

“If you’re not from here, then where are you from?”

“I used to be Grandmaster of the Egyptian Dark Order before my father was killed. I lived in Alexandria for a while then Cairo. Now I’m king so I’m here, at least for the time being.”

Yuugi blinked, trying to wrap his head around what he’d just said because there was no way that was real. Though his suspicion that Atem was actually from Egypt was right. “Grandmaster?”

Atem nodded, smiling proudly. “Yes. I used to be a Knight Grandmaster.”

Knight Grandmaster? Yeah, none of this was real. Atem didn’t exist. There was no way on Earth that he’d be magically betrothed to a king who used to be a Knight from Egypt who was also a vampire. Not only did it sound ridiculous, but if he had to lay out his ideal fantasy, he was apparently staring right at him. Not real. He didn’t believe it. “Are you trying to tell me Egypt has knights?”

Atem laughed. “Yes. Every district has a Dark Order.”

“Domino has knights?”

“Yes. Lead by Grandmaster Valon. Have you met him?”

Yuugi deadpanned, slowly shaking his head. “Nope.”

Atem narrowed his eyes at him and smirked. “You don’t believe me.”

“No. No, I really don’t.” Yuugi giggled and shook his head. “Wow, okay so, how did you get here if you don’t know where you are exactly?”

“Kaiba’s house and Mahado brought me here from Cairo to become king.”

“Kaiba’s house?”

“His house is very powerful in court. As Mahado puts it, ‘causes a lot of trouble’.”

“No, I mean, yeah, I did want to know that, but what do you mean by ‘house’?”

“Oh. It’s... Hmmm… I’ve never had to explain that before.” Yuugi laughed as his whole face scrunched up in thought. “Well here’s an example. You’ve met Mai,” Yuugi nodded, so he continued, “Her house is just her. She’s not interested in having children and she’s not interested in broadening her bloodline with a new Vampire either. She’s content with her house just being her. Then there are houses like Grand Duchess Rutherian’s. No one from that house was ever human, all born vampires, and-”

“Born Vampires? That’s a thing?”

Atem snickered, “Yes. Though it’s not common.” 

“Why not?”

“That’s a great question that I have no idea the answer to.”

“Library. Got it.” Yuugi smiled and lifted his shoulders. “Sorry for interrupting you.”

“It’s alright. As I was saying, none of them were human and even with how uncommon that is, her house is huge. It’s her, her husband, her 5 kids, her sister, her 3 kids, and her brother and his 2 kids, who he adopted. That was the scandal of the century. You should’ve been here for that. And all of their… spouses isn’t the right word either. They’re all old and live by the ways of the past. It’s a mess. I don’t even know, but there’s 50 in her house right now that I know of.”

“Wow!”

“Then there’s Lilly’s house. I mean Kaiba’s house,” Atem sighed sadly and forced a weak smile. “His house has every race on the planet in it.”

Yuugi giggled at how exasperated he sounded.

“I’m serious. The only original member of Kaiba’s house that was actually Lilly’s bloodline is Alistar but he’s not in the house anymore.”

“Why not? What happened?”

“It’s not what you think. He was conscripted to be a Knight. Knights don’t have houses, lands, or titles. They devote their minds, bodies, and souls to keeping order and bringing justice for our Dark Emperor. Just before Alistar was conscripted, my father put Joey’s family in Kaiba’s house officially, but it also sounded from what I’ve read of my father’s notes that he has hellhounds and a witch in there too.”

“Wow. Wonder who they are?”

“I have no idea, but he has humans, a Lycan, a witch and his hellhounds, and a group of child Vampires in his house, and it’s the only one in court like that.”

“Lycan? Oh wait, those are werewolves right?” 

Atem nodded.

“They’re real too?!” Yuugi huffed. “What else is real? Mermaids?”

Atem laughed, shaking his head, “No.” 

“How would you know?!”

That just made him laugh harder. 

“Okay okay, I’ll just have to trust you I guess.” Yuugi giggled at his fading laughter. 

“Speaking of Lycans, your friend Joey is one of them.”

“I knew something was up with him. All of us did.” But the more Yuugi thought about it, the more it didn’t make sense. “So houses are kind of like Vampire families, right?”

“More or less.”

“So why is Joey in Kaiba’s house?”

Atem looked at him like that was a stupid question, then his expression softened to understanding. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”

“Tell me what?”

“I should probably leave that question for him.” Atem wrinkled his nose at him, playfully grinning. “I’ve been yelled at enough because of you.”

“Why would you be yelled at because of me?”

Atem sighed through his nose and quirked a brow. “Is that a serious question?”

“Yeah, fair enough.”

“He’s pretty mad that I brought you here and involved you in all of this. He was trying to keep you out of it. I respect his privacy,” Atem said, then smirked. “Kaiba disagrees and Mokuba flat out does not, but I do. Unfortunately that got me yelled at over the phone and yelled at again when we brought you back here and you didn’t wake up.”

Yuugi beamed with pride at that. He could just see Joey freaking out on him about everything. “Was that not supposed to happen?”

“Nothing that happened to you was supposed to happen. I thought you were rejecting the transformation, but apparently, it was more difficult on you because of how drastically and impossibly you changed.”

“Impossibly?”

“You’re pureblood like me. That’s… for a human that was thought to be impossible.”

“This is all on the same level of impossible to me.”

Atem snickered, nodding once and looking out at the falling snow. “I was born a vampire and I’m pureblood like my father.”

“What about your mom?” Yuugi winced, realizing that was probably insensitive since his dad died and he was king, which meant his mom was probably dead too. “I mean-”

“My mother is a Marquiness. The Royal family is barred from marrying anyone of lesser blood than a Grand Duchess or Archduke in order to keep the heir pureblood. I’m a lucky accident.”

“That’s kind of sad.”

Atem smirked. “Politics often are.”

“You said you were from Alexandria, does that mean you stayed with your mom?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever get to see your dad?”

“Occasionally. I was a knight. I didn’t have many opportunities to see him.”

Yuugi smiled at him, full of understanding. “I didn’t get to see my dad that much either. I lived with my grandpa and mom for the longest time while he was away for work.”

“Do you know him better now?”

He shook his head. “No. My dad quit his job and packed up his stuff to move back home with me and mom. I remember him telling me on the phone he was sorry for everything, he just had to see it through and he hoped I’d understand and forgive him for it. My mom went out to help him get everything ready. They died in a car accident driving home from the airport.”

Atem offered him a sympathetic smile, resting his head on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Life’s like that sometimes. He was right, I do understand, but I won’t do that to my family when or if I have one. I know what it’s like. It sucks.”

“It does.”

Yuugi shifted a little closer to Atem, laying his head back on his arm as well, smiling. “So Kaiba just brought you here?”

“Sort of. No one knew I was the heir. As Kaiba’s younger brother puts it, ‘there are two kinds of vampires, ones who want power and the ones who want blood.’ I would be a liability if anyone knew of my birthright.”

“How did he find out?”

“Kaiba’s a power driven opportunist.”

Yuugi burst into laughter.

“What? It’s true.”

“I believe you.”

“Mahado was actually the one to bring me to court. After a few months of listing to them tear me apart, I took over.”

“Poorly,” Yuugi murmured, grinning.

“Very poorly.”

“I still don’t believe you.”

Atem smiled, tilting his head back to look at the sky. “Being a knight was so much easier. Before I became Grandmaster, all I had to do was follow the orders I was given and I did my duties well. I was the youngest Grandmaster in our history. That was something like this, but I found my way to deal with it. I can’t deal with court. I’ve always hated it. Just a bunch of out of touch windbags seeing who can scream the loudest. They don’t know what it’s like in the world. They just know what they want to know.”

“I can’t even imagine.”

“Well you will soon.”

“So you brought me here to do your dirty work?”

Atem chuckled and brushed his fingers over Yuugi’s cheek. “I brought you here to keep me from handling court how I would as a knight.”

“Which is?”

“Shoot everything that moves.”

Yuugi snorted and laughed at the look of desperation on Atem’s face. He was genuinely considering it, and normally Yuugi would think that was horrible, but he was a vampire. Isn’t that part of the gig? “I don’t see why you don’t do that.”

“I suggested it to Kaiba.”

“And?”

“Well Joey thought it was brilliant, which made me rethink everything.”

Yuugi laughed more.

“But he pointed out I’d start civil war. We’re already skirting around a war with the Lycans. How awful would it be to be remembered in history as the king who single handedly wiped out the entire race of Vampires?”

Yuugi giggled. “That would be the definition of doing poorly.”

“See?”

They fell into a comfortable silence, looking out at the falling snow and swinging. All of this information was great and all, it’s what he’d asked, but it lead to a pretty big question that he wasn’t really sure he could handle the answer to. He sighed, puffing out his cheeks and drawing Atem’s attention away from the snow to his face. “I… I don’t understand why.”

“Why what?”

“Why you made me a vampire. Why I’m here or why Mai said I was betrothed to you. Why you were in the bar by yourself.”

Atem looked away, lifting his ankle to rest on his knee. He fiddled with the straps on his boot, glaring down at it. Yuugi had to smile. Was he embarrassed or nervous? “I made a deal with Mahado and Kaiba. As I said, I’m doing poorly. The court doesn’t trust in my abilities to lead. They insisted I marry someone who would represent the opposing side in court since I’m in support of the Lycans, but I convinced them to give me one night to find who I wanted... I found you.”

It was very sweet and very romantic, but just as unbelievable as vampires themselves. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know you’re blindingly attractive, brave and have a big heart. I could talk to you about anything and you’d understand.”

“What if you change your mind? Or we just don’t work out? You’ll be stuck with me.”

Atem grinned. “That’s the idea, Yuugi.”

“I don’t understand how you can be okay with that. We’ve talked more today than we have since I met you. What if-”

Atem’s nose scrunched up and he glared at the snow. “I hate that phrase. I’ve heard it enough in the last few months to last me a lifetime. ‘What if’ indeed. If you live your life in fear of ‘what ifs’, you’ll never move. You’ll be too terrified to do anything but stand there and shut your eyes, never seeing what’s on the other side of the ‘what if’.” He looked at Yuugi, sighing through his nose as his expression relaxed. “You treat your friends like family and look out for them, even if it means taking a step back to help them move forward. I need that. You’re an incredibly loyal friend and trustworthy. I don’t need to talk to you for centuries to figure that out. I’d rather take the chance and end up with a best friend even half as wonderful as you to spend eternity with.”

“So that’s what you’re looking for? A friend?”

“No.”

“Then what are you looking for?”

“Just you.”

Yuugi sighed, frustrated. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means I tried really hard to get a day off before the rest of my life went to absolute hell. I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone like you.” He grinned, his eyes sweeping over Yuugi and making his heart pound against his chest. “You’re just hitting every check mark I can come up with and then some. I told you. I made a deal to find a husband. I found you. I want you to be my prince and I want you here with me.”

Yuugi just stared at him feeling so embarrassed, flattered, and honored, but he wasn’t really sure if he was blushing or not. Did vampires blush? Atem probably would have earlier when he asked him about this, but he didn’t. Maybe that wasn't a thing. Please let it not be a thing! 

Atem shifted, taking both his hands and held them. “I know you don’t believe me, but I want to spend eternity with you. Let me have a chance to prove it to you.” 

“I don’t understand. I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“You always have a choice Yuugi,” Atem said very seriously, brushing his thumb over the back of Yuugi’s hand. “I’m stuck with no choices, but I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Do I have to answer that right now?”

Atem smiled, relief written all over his face. “No. Take all the time you need. You’re my betrothed, so you have until the courts threats are no longer threats but promises.”

“Wish I had a choice on becoming a vampire.”

Atem winced, looking down at their hands. “I’m truly sorry. As I said,  _ I _ didn’t have a choice. It was all I could do.”

“It’s okay. I understand. It’s not like I said no to anything you’ve done since we met.”

Atem murmured, so soft he almost missed it. “That’s no excuse.” 

Atem took a huge risk letting Yuugi choose. If he chose to leave, Atem would have someone else on the same power level as him, and Yuuugi read enough fantasy novels to know that doesn’t end well. What kind of life would he have if he left? What would happen to Atem? Just thinking of that option made him uneasy, but he had to think about it. Yeah, Atem might be the embodiment of every fantasy he’d ever had, but that didn’t mean this was going to be a happily ever after kind of thing. He could get his heart broken again. Still, he could think of worse things than this. Millions of worse things. This was actually pretty great. Way better than the dead end job he had working for a company he hated that sucked the life out of him. He didn’t have a ton of time, but he had time. Time enough to see what he wanted to do.

Yuugi smiled at him and made Atem lay his arm back on the swing so he could sit how he was before, laying his head on him while he talked to him. He let him, smiling sheepishly and laying his forehead against Yuugi’s, kicking his foot to swing back. Yuugi beamed, trying to ignore the butterflies threatening to escape his chest. There just had to be something wrong with him. He should be mad. Why wasn’t he mad? “So, uh, what are the rules about being a Vampire since I am one now. I doubt what I think is a thing and what’s actually a thing are the same.”

“The wooden steak is a joke.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Do not go in the sun. Other than that, Mahado will be showing you the rest.”

“Why not go in the sun?”

“I could tell you the legend behind it, but it’s just a legend. When sunlight touches your skin, it burns and dries you out. Prolonged exposure will basically turn you into a cadaver.”

“That’s gross.”

“Yes, and there’s no coming back from that either. So no sun.” When Yuugi looked at him, he brushed some of his hair behind his ear. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Giving me a chance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took forever. I ended up rewriting the whole chapter and the one after it cause I hated them both. Hopefully it reads well and feels more fluid and real. <3


	5. Chapter 5

Joey smirked at Kaiba, passed out on the bed in the dark. He needed a vacation. Poor guy hadn’t got a good nights sleep in weeks between court and Joey and Atem’s constant worrying about Yuugi. Even so, he stayed up and waited up for him to come back at sunrise. Joey moved forward, kissing him on the lips softly before getting up out of bed. He got dressed in the dark as quiet as he could and sat down to slip his shoes on. All set to go, he started to get back up when he heard Kaiba behind him. “Don’t eat everything.”

“I ain’t gonna eat everythin’.” Joey snorted and glanced back at him shifting on the bed to steal his pillow. 

“You always say that, then I have to listen to the humans complaining they have nothing to eat.”

“I’ll save them somethin’.”

“Crumbs aren't food, pup.”

“Go ta sleep.”

Kaiba’s deep sleepy laughter filled the room and Joey had to steal another kiss (if for no other reason than to shut him up). He jumped on top of him; somehow not kneeing him in the stomach like he may or may not have done a few days ago on accident. Kaiba was still laughing when he crashed his mouth on his. Next thing he knew, he grabbed him and pulled him down, sliding his hands under his belt. 

“Hey now. I just got dressed and I’m starvin’.”

“You woke me up.”

“Go back ta sleep.” 

“You’re on top of me.” Kaiba slipped his hand lower. “While you’re there…”

Kaiba brushed his fangs over his neck making him moan. He forced himself to push up on the bed so he couldn't reach him. If he didn’t, he’d never get out and get food. “Ya need ta sleep and I need ta eat.” He kissed him one final time, weaseling out of his grip. “I’ll come back and wake ya up.”

“Do not wake me up.”

“Too late. Ya started it.”

He bolted for the door, laughing, as Kaiba grabbed a pillow from the bed. He just made it on the other side when he heard a thud against it. Smiling to himself, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. Being almost 1 in the afternoon, the castle was dead as usual. No one to pass, no voices to eavesdrop on. He walked through the winding hallways until he found the kitchen door and opened it up. 

Nothing surprised him more than seeing Yuugi on the floor, glaring at an array of food surrounding him; each plate with a pathetic bite taken out of it. Being surrounded by food sounded heavenly and his mouth watered, but Yuugi didn’t look like that. His glare was filled with so much frustration and sorrow, Joey thought about leaving him be, but decided against it. When he took a step into the room, Yuugi glanced up and all of that disappeared. “Joey?!”

“Yuug’! I’m glad you’re finally up! I was about ta kill Atem.”

Yuugi laughed and started to offer for him to sit down. He looked all around himself and chuckled, moving some of the plates. “Sorry. I was hungry and… I had to try, right?” 

Joey waved him off and sat down in the space he made for him. “Hey, it’s really alright. I get it. I tried not eatin’ and fuck that was awful.”

Joey smiled at Yuugi’s laughter and picked up a plate of mashed potatoes and baked chicken. He shoveled mashed potatoes in his mouth, like he normaly did, He was fucking starving, but after a few bites, he glanced over. Yuugi was staring at him, well, not him. Yuugi was staring at his food like Joey was staring at the food and he realized then, why Yuugi looked so frustrated. “They’re up there by the way.”

“What?”

“The things are up there,” he said, pointing to a cabinet door on the other side of him.

Yuugi turned, opening the door and reaching inside. When he turned back, he stared at the blood pack with a sad frown. Not knowing what to think or say about that, Joey just kept eating. He figured he’d come up with some good things to say a few plates in at least. NOt that it stopped him from side eyeing him every now and then. After Joey set down his empty plate and picked up another one, Yuugi finally bit down on the blood pack. He had a mouth full of fangs like Mai, maybe more. Damn. He didn’t mean to stare but Yuugi noticed and turned to face him with the pack in his mouth, puffing out his cheeks. He tried to say ‘what’, but his mouth was full of plastic. It made Joey laugh, food falling out of his mouth and he coughed. 

The plastic collapsed, empty, in record time. He didn’t think he’d seen anyone drink those that fast before and that made him laugh harder. Yuugi set it down on the ground, frowning at him. “What?”

He looked up at Yuugi pout-glaring at him and tried to calm down enough to talk. “Sorry man. You’re just-You’re in the runnin’ for most adorable Vampire. Like you got a mouth fulla fuckin’ fangs and you’re still managin’ to look like that. Charlotte's gonna hate your guts.”

Yuugi wrinkled his nose (still pout-glaring at him). “You know what?” He huffed, then started laughing too. “You’re the worst Joey.”

“Truth hurts.”

Yuugi hit him on the shoulder, smiling down at the food as Joey laughed, grabbing another plate. He sighed, watching Joey shovel more food in his mouth. “So what’s going on with you? Just hungry?”

He swallowed a bite and shook his head. “Nah. I’m always hungry like this after I change.”

“Atem said you were a werewolf.”

“Sure am.”

“When did that happen? Were you always like that?”

Joey shook his head. “Ya remember the bar I used ta work at? Ya called me and kept gettin’ some chick answerin’ the phone.”

Yuugi frowned at him and nodded.

“Well, That was Mai. Some asshole had a problem with the Lycans in the bar and killed everyone there. I got bit.”

“Why did Mai have your phone?”

“She had my shit from when the police investigated the bar.”

Yuugi nodded again, thinking it over, then looked back up at him. “So… I’m going to take a wild guess and assume that your boyfriend knows about all of this.”

Joey stopped eating altogether and frowned at him. “What?”

“Your boyfriend has to know about all of this, right?” Yuugi hit him in the shoulder and huffed. “You promised me you’d introduce me to your boyfriend on my birthday and you never did.”

“I tried! Ya told me ya didn’t wanna know.”

Yuugi leaned forward, giving Joey a look like he’d lost his mind. “What are you talking about?”

“When we found ya in your neighbors apartment I was gonna introduce ya, but ya told me ya didn’t wanna know.”

“Wait… _Kaiba’s_ your boyfriend?!” Yuugi sat up on his knees facing him and hit him again. “You’re dating the CEO of Kaiba Corp. who owns most of Domino City and apparently is a Vampire who rules over our whole country?!” Yuugi laughed and hit him again almost knocking the plate out of his hands. “Who are you and what did you do with my best friend?”

Joey laughed, shielding his plate, “Hey! Foods important.”

“That’s all you’re going to say?!”

“It ain’t my fault. It just kinda happened.”

“Did you know all of that when you started dating him?”

“Yeah.”

Yuugi laughed and sat back down, shaking his head as he stared down at the plates. “Wow… Well he’s DEFINITELY not what I expected.”

“What were ya expectin’?”

“Remember I said we had a bet going?”

“Yeah?”

“Ryou won. Like hands down won. We all made bets on what your boyfriend was like. I bet he’d be someone more like Mai I guess. Someone more outgoing and personable.”

Joey snorted and laughed. “Ha! Yeah Kaiba ain’t like that, that’s for damn sure.”

“No he’s not,” Yuugi chortled. “Tea said you’d pick the edgy brooding guy.”

“That’s her fuckin’ pick for herself,” he said and shrugged. “Kaiba’s more like the controllin’ asshole ya gotta beat anythin’ close ta an emotion outta.”

“Ryou said that almost word for word. ‘You need someone who’s a good punching bag’.”

Joey decided to gloss right over the fact that Ryou guessed that because he knew and set his plate down on his lap, shrugging his shoulders. “Kaiba ain’t that bad though. He just likes ta be a dick one minute then do somethin’, I dunno… crazy sweet or somethin’... He likes ta keep ya on the fence about him.”

“You’re over the fence Joey. You talk about him like he’s god like and walks on water.”

“Don’t ya ever tell that bastard that.” Yuugi laughed, doubling over, but Joey was so serious it hurt. “Seriously Yuug’. I gotta hold on ta what little dignity I got left.” He smiled, stretching out his legs between the empty plates and scooped up some more mashed potatoes. “He kinda is though.”

Yuugi just laughed, leaning his head back against the counter, smiling. After a few more bites Yuugi nudged him, making him look up from the plate. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It’s… well, all this is fuckin’ crazy, right? I dunno. I was worried if I told ya you’d be mixed up in it all too.”

Yuugi smiled sadly and looked down at his lap. “Looks like I'm mixed up in it now anyway.”

“I tried really hard ta keep ya outta all this, but since ya are-” Joey stared down at what was left of the food, suddenly losing his appetite- “I uh… I should probably tell ya the truth ‘bout why I missed your birthday party.”

Yuugi did what he thought he would, narrowed his eyes at him, but didn’t say anything.

“I was gonna go. We shoulda made it, but I was shot in the arm. It’s why it was in a sling.”

“SHOT?!”

He snickered and held up both arms moving them to show him he was alright. “It’s fine. I'm fine, but I got shot ‘cause I was helpin’ Kaiba get revenge on some of the assholes who killed Lilly and Aknankamon.”

“Who?”

“Aknankamon’s Atem’s ol’ man, the last King, and Lilly is… well she’s probably the closest thing Kaiba ever had ta a mom.” Joey smiled at Yuugi’s sympathetic frown. “I know they both don’t show it for shit, but they ain’t holdin’ up as well as they’re lettin’ on. Don’t let ‘em lie ta ya.”

“Wow… I… That’s horrible.”

“Yeah. So, I helped him get them back. Normally Kaiba’s busy with court and helpin’ Atem out, but he made a deal so he’d get outta shit. Didn’t know the deal had ta do with Atem bein’ at the bar chattin’ ya up.”

Yuugi lifted his shoulders and reached for his bangs, twirling a lock around his fingers with his right hand. He smiled down at the ground, looking like he was reminiscing about something. Joey set the empty plate down and decided to let him be for a while. He was still starving.

He finished two more plates before Yuugi leaned over, resting his head on his shoulder. “I’m an idiot.”

Joey almost choked on his food. “Why ya say that?”

“I shouldn’t have went with him. I should’ve gone home.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Yugi let out a long breath, blowing up his bangs. “Yeah. I should be running home right now, but I'm not. I’m sitting in the kitchen, trying to be something I'm not anymore.”

“Ha! Yeah. Been there.”

“Do you think I should go home?”

He finished off the last plate, licking it and making Yuugi laugh. Then set it down on the stack with the others. “What’d ya mean?”

“Do you think I should go home, try and figure this out on my own, or stay? I trust your opinion. I don’t think I trust my own. I can’t seem to make the right one.” Yuugi sighed and muttered bitterly, “Especially about guys.”

He pushed his shoulder back against Yuugi, making him sit up and look at him. “I think doin’ this shit by yourself sucks. Trust me I know. I tried. He’s just as bad as Kaiba too. So, yeah, ya could go home, but he’s just gonna be there tryin’ ta get ya back here anyway. Not that ya can’t. I’ll go with ya if ya want. I’m just sayin’.”

“Yeah.” Yugi giggled and shoved him back. “Is that what happened with you and Kaiba?”

“Kinda sorta. Except it wasn’t him draggin’ me back it was me draggin’ him back.” Joey wiggled his eyebrows and Yuugi rolled his eyes, making him laugh. “So whaddaya think of Atem? Thinkin’ ya made a mistake and don’t like him or what?”

“Ha! Oh no, I like him. It’s frustrating. I like him a lot and I shouldn’t. He just more or less killed me, but it’s not really his fault. I would’ve done the same thing if I were in his shoes.” Yuugi widened his eyes staring at his shoes, then he shook his head very slowly. “No. No I wouldn’t. He’s being nice about it. If I was some powerful Vampire King and ran into Atem at a bar like that, I’d probably kidnap him and lock him in my bedroom for life.” Joey laughed really hard and Yuugi snickered, shrugging his shoulders. ”What? I'm being honest. Atem’s trying really hard to keep me here, sure, but he’s giving me a choice. I wouldn't be giving him a choice of anything.”

“So what I'm hearin’ is ya wanna stay?”

Yuugi groaned, “I don’t know, Joey. This is all just a lot. I don’t know how you did this all by yourself.”

“I wasn't by myself and I tried bein’ by myself. Ended up sendin’ me ta mom’s and I had her and Serenity. And Kaiba, Mai and Moki wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone,” he snickered and shook his head, “Ya guys were there too.”

“I don’t feel like I helped you at all. I had no idea about any of this.”

“You’re my best friend, ya always help and I’m still me, right? Just a little... weirder.”

Yuugi laughed, nodding. “Yeah, now we’re both weirder.”

“Do ya really wanna know what I think?”

“I don’t know if I can handle what you think. I really like Atem and you were right about Adrian.”

“Atem ain’t nothin’ like Adrian.”

Yuugi looked up at him. He was quiet, chewing his bottom lip, then nodded. “Okay. What do you think?”

“I like Atem. He’s a good guy and he’d be a great king if everyone would  _ back the fuck off _ . They’re pissin’ me off and I ain’t a part of anythin’. And Vampires ain’t so bad ya get used ta them bein’ weird. He likes your weird games and puzzles and shit too so I thought ya both would hit it off great.” He reached up to scratch the back of his neck looking down away from Yuugi. “It’s actually kinda my fault you’re in this mess. Sorry about that.”

“How’s it your fault?”

“I mighta told him ta go ta that bar so he could meet ya.”

Yuugi looked up at him and narrowed his eyes in a playful scowl. “You told him to go to the bar, knowing he was going to bring someone back here, and  _ you ditched me _ ?”

He laughed and shook his head. “I didn’t ditch ya! I told ya already, got beat the shit out of helpin’ Kaiba, and I had no fuckin’ idea about any of that. He wouldn’t tell me. I was gonna bring Atem with me, but Kaiba said he was busy and I just…“ Joey huffed and looked down at his lap. “I’m really sorry for missin’ your birthday. I just- I had ta help him. I wish ya coulda known Lilly. She was the best.”

“It’s really okay, Joey. I’m just going to give you shit for it for the next year.”

“Fair enough. I was thinkin’ of taken him ta meet ya anyway, ya know? Even if it wasn’t for your birthday. I thought you’d both hit it off and I was right.”

“You were.” Yuugi smiled and sighed, his smile fading.

“Worried about Gramps?”

“Yes, but no. I need to call him or see him or something so he knows I'm okay.”

“I’ve been talkin’ ta him. He’s alright. He’ll love ya ta call him though.”

“Thanks Joey. You’re amazing.”

“I am.”

Yuugi didn’t say anything, his frown deepening as he stared at the ground. He could see the spiral even with him not saying a single thing. So he nudged him, making him look up. “Stop overthinkin’ this. It’s a lot ta fuckin’ overthink and Atem ain’t like that. I wouldn’ta asked him ta come with me if he was.”

“I know, but I’ve heard that before.” 

" Hey! You let Tea set ya up with that Vivian chick. Ya should give me a chance! I’m a way better wingman.”

“Oh god. I’m still trying to forget that date. It was horrible!” Yuugi laughed, then reluctantly groaned, ”I gueeeess I can give the really hot guy a chance. He’s a King right? I could do worse-” Yuugi’s grin grew- “A Knight King from Egypt. Yeah, who am I kidding? I could do a lot worse.”

“Ah huh, just twist your arm a little more. When ya gotta decide what you’re doin’?”

“Atem said I could take all the time I wanted.”

“Take all the time ya can then, but give him a chance. I think he’ll surprise ya.”

“Okay. I will.” Yuugi exhaled a deep sigh, puffing out his cheeks. “I should probably go to sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“Me too. Where’s your room?”

“Upstairs. Down the hall with the windows.”

“Yeah, man, that ain’t your room. That’s Atem’s room.”

Yuugi’s eyes widened. “Oh…”

“I mean, there’s a shit ton of rooms in the castle. I can take ya anywhere or I can take ya up there and make Atem pick out a room for ya. Our room’s just down the hall.”

Yuugi narrowed his eyes at him, smirking, then nodded. “That would be awesome.”

Joey cleaned up the plates and lead Yuugi out of the kitchen. He talked to him about what it was like not being human anymore. Yuugi missed food, Joey missed his old clothes. They walked down the hallway, rounding a corner when Yuugi looked up at the darkened windows. He stopped and looked out the view of the mountains. “It’s nice, ain't it,” Joey said, shoving his hands in his pockets and smiled at him. 

“It’s beautiful. Looks familiar too…” Yuugi turned away from the windows and looked at the doorway to Atem’s room, conflicted. 

“If ya changed your mind, I can take ya somewhere else.” But Yuugi didn’t say anything, staring at the door. So he leaned in his view making him focus on him. “Relax Yuug’. No one’s makin’ ya do nothin’. If ya wanna go home, just say the word.”

“Thank you, Joey. Really. I’m so glad you’re here.”

He smiled. “Me too. It’s great that I can talk ta ya ‘bout all this. I’ve been dyin’. Ya know I suck at keepin’ secrets.”

“Apparently not that bad.” Yuugi giggled and hugged him. “Night Joey.”

“Night Yuug’.”

Joey waited until Yuugi disappeared in the room before turning around to head back to his. He sighed, puffing out his cheeks and glanced back over his shoulder at the closed door. He really liked Atem. He was fun to talk to, had crazy opinions on things and it always made him laugh or stop and think. He felt like his mom did about Atem; he was a good person trapped in a really shitty situation that he was doomed to fail at no matter what he did. If any one could help build him back up after being thrown into all of this and dealing with the disillusionment he faced every day, it was Yuugi. 

Joey rounded the corner to his and Kaiba’s room, wondering if he should wait in the hall for him or just go to bed. A quick glance behind him and he decided to go to bed. Yuugi could handle himself and if Atem was already asleep, he’d be out in the hall by now. So he opened his door as quiet as he could and walked into the dark room. Closing it behind him, he felt a wave of exhaustion like the bed was calling to him. He undressed and climbed into bed, huffing that Kaiba was still laying on his pillow. He laid his head on the mattress debating on stealing it back when Kaiba moved, surprising the shit out of him, and leaned over him. “Did you eat the entire kitchen?”

“Why ain’t ya sleepin’?”

“You’ve been gone a while.”

“I was talkin’ ta Yuug’ and ya were supposed ta be sleepin’.” 

He didn’t say anything and Joey wondered why. Probably because he already knew Yuugi was awake and decided not to tell him. Why didn’t he tell him?! The more he thought about it, the longer they just laid in the dark completely silent, and that was weird for both of them. 

Joey shifted and laid on his back, looking up at Kaiba’s silhouette in the dark as he tilted his head. “What?”

He hummed, obvious amusement in his voice, “I’m just surprised you aren’t giving me an earful about everything.  _ Again _ .”

“Fuck you. You’d do the same thing if it was Moki and ya know it.”

“There would be more people dead and a lot less barking if it was Mokuba.”

“Ha! Yeah. Ya won’t even let me hit him though.”

“You’re lack of status recognition is endearing to someone, I’m sure, but I’d like you to stay alive a little longer, if it’s all the same to you.” 

He laughed as Kaiba leaned down, kissing his neck. “Ain’t like I haven’t been shot before… or stabbed, or decked, or clawed, or bit. Seriously, what’s he gonna do?”

Kaiba just kissed his neck again.

“See? He can’t do shit. Why won’t ya let me deck him?”

“I’m not dignifying that with a response,” he said, before sinking his fangs into him.

\---

Yuugi walked into the room, surprised that the lamp was on inside and more surprised Atem was awake. He half hoped he was awake when he walked in, but now that he knew he was, he didn't know what to do or what to say. “Uh… Hey.”

“Hello.” Atem smiled at him from the lounge chair with a pile of papers in his lap. “Still exploring?”

“Not anymore. I was talking to Joey and we both got tired.” Yuugi lifted his shoulders, looking away from him. “I didn’t know this was your room. Where were you sleeping while I was here?”

“Here.”

Yuugi blinked. He should’ve expected that (given that they were engaged or something and Atem turned him into a vampire without him knowing a damn thing about it) but he didn’t. He slept in the same bed with him for three weeks?! While he internally fought over whether that was incredibly romantic or creepy beyond all reason, Atem smirked at him like he knew what he was thinking.

“I didn’t want you to wake up in the middle of the day to an foreign empty castle alone not knowing what happened or where you were.”

“Thanks…” He fought a smile and reached up to fiddle with his bangs. “So uh… Why are you up?”

“I had some work to do.” He lifted up a packet of papers that he held on his lap. 

“Makes sense.”

He looked down at the papers, hesitating, before setting them on the table beside the chair. He stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of him. “You don’t have to sleep here if your uncomfortable with it. I understand.”

Yuugi darted his eyes to the bed, feeling his whole body tense up. “Where do I sleep then?”

Atem turned, gesturing for him to follow over to the wall beside the fireplace. Yuugi tilted his head, surprised when he saw the crystal door knob on the wall, but it looked like a wall not a door. Atem turned the knob and opened it up onto a small room with another door. Yuugi followed him through the antechamber into another bedroom that mirrored Atem’s. 

He stepped to the side and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning at it. “This is your room.”

“My room?”

“This castle was made with royalty in mind. Two separate chambers for the Lord and Lady of the castle, or in this case King and Grand Crowned Prince.” He wrinkled his nose, looking a the bed. 

Yuugi stood beside him, leaning forward to see his face better. “Are you okay?”

Atem forced a smile and faced him, but his smile became genuine the longer he looked at him. “Yes, I’ll be alright. I’m just exhausted.”

He didn’t believe a word of that, but what else was he supposed to say? “Yeah, you look tired. Thank you for showing this to me.”

“It’s no trouble. If you need anything, I’m right on the other side of these doors,” he said, looking back at the doors, then him again. 

Yuugi felt like he should be doing something or saying something, but everything he thought of involved asking him to stay. It didn’t change the fact that the option to sleep in Atem’s room was gone, and all of those things were a bad idea. He was giving Atem a chance, not diving in head first like he did with every other relationship he had before and got burned with. He was going to try and do this the smart way, as much as it killed him. He wondered if this would’ve been easier not knowing how amazing the night they spent together was. Then again, he had a pretty good imagination and last he checked, still had eyes. 

Unable to do much else, he just stared at Atem, smiling back at him like he knew what he was thinking. He took a step toward him and reached up, brushing his warm fingertips over his cheek. The pounding of his heart in his ears and his chest drowned out everything else in the room as Atem closed the space between them and kissed him gently on the lips. It was so soft and sweet and romantic Yuugi felt like he’d melted into a puddle. “Goodnight.”

“G-goodnight, Atem.”

He watched him walk through the door and close it. Taking a deep breath, he looked around the room for a bathroom. He needed a really cold shower and sleep. This just had to be a crazy detailed dream, or more likely, he had a breakdown at work and was put in a metal hospital. So he shuffled across the room to the bathroom, not seeing a shower in there but there was a claw foot tub. Way better!

After a long relaxing bath, he tried to find pjs but couldn’t find anything in the drawers or closet for sleeping. So he gave up, deciding his clothes would have to do and climbed into bed. He was out when his head hit the pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

Yuugi woke up on a cloud, just like before. Looking around the room he realized, none of it was a dream. He was really in a castle, really a Vampire. He pushed himself up from the bed and climbed out. Might as well get moving and see if Joey was awake. He got dressed and started to reach for the doorknob when it turned with a loud click. He jumped back as it opened.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to startle- Yuugi?”

He blinked, too shocked to move or say anything at first. It was Joey’s mom! 

She laughed. “Joey said you’d be a surprise.”

So happy to see another friendly familiar face he hugged her. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

She hugged him and patted his back. “I can’t believe  _ you’re _ here.” She stepped back and put her hands on his shoulders squeezing them with a soft smile. “How are you holding up? This place can be very lonely.”

He completely relaxed at her smile. “I’m alright.”

She squeezed his shoulders again and looked him over. and walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. Then walked away towards the bed to sit on the edge. She looked like she was thinking of saying something and choosing her words carefully then patted the bed beside her. He walked over to it and sat down, pulling his legs up to sit cross legged on the bed facing her. She looked down at the ground then back up at him and smiled. “So… Grand Crowned Prince, huh? How did you manage that one? Joey fought tooth and nail to keep you out of this.”

“He ditched me for my birthday.”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t ditch you for anything.”

“You’re right. He got held up and missed it so I made plenty of bad decisions without him.” He laughed and looked down at his lap. 

“Regretting it?”

“...No.”

“You don’t sound very confident.”

“I have no idea where I am or what’s going on.”

“You’re about 4 hours from Domino city, in the mountains. You took a vacation up here with Joey once, remember?”

“Yeah, right after Adrian and I broke up.”

“You mean right after you dumped him for being a dick.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re not half way across the world. You could go home right now if you wanted.”

He smiled, actually feeling a little better from that. “Did you drive up here?”

“Oh no. Serenity and I live here now.”

“Wow! I didn't know that. Why do you live here?”

“You know I have a tailor shop right? I make their clothes.”

“You make who clothes?”

“The Vampires. Although, Serenity and I make the Lycan clothes too. They need something that won’t rip to shreds.”

“That makes sense.”

“You need special clothes to go outside in the sun.”

“So you know about that too?” When she nodded he looked back up at her. “Do you know what else is going on?”

“Well that depends. How involved do you want to get?”

“As involved in knowing as possible so I know what I'm getting into or out of.”

She snickered and nodded. “Smart. Well Joey has inspired a sort of… power shift across the world.”

“Joey?”

“Surprising isn't it? But he didn’t mean to. It just kind of happened. From what I understand, Vampires have kept Lycans from any power or organization because they’re afraid of them being out of control. Joey gave them some of that power and control over their own lives back. So now they are trying to decide whether to let that happen or intervene.”

“Intervene how?”

“How else would a Vampire intervene? Crush it like a bug.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“No and that’s what Seto and Atem are fighting against. The Lycans don't want war, but many of the Vampires do. So the Vampire court is in a deadlock right now. Without a strong King anything could happen.”

Yuugi smiled, murmuring to himself, “So that’s why he said he was doing poorly.”

She laughed and leaned back. “Yes, but in his defense, his father left him quite the mess to clean up. He truly believed that if anyone could fix this mess, it was him.”

“Why didn’t he fix it?”

“He had his hands tied. He lived a long time and had a certain way to go about it but in the end he saw it was not the best action to take. He believed Atem could do better.”

“What do you think?”

“I think he’s everything his father believed him to be and so much more. I think he’ll be the best King these guys have ever seen… but-”

“Oh no here it comes.” He smiled at her making her laugh.

“Here it comes indeed.” She put her hand on his knee and leaned forward. “I think he’s sweet as honey and has a bite like no one’s business. I’ve known him for 3 months now, and heard about him from his father for probably a year. You want to know what I really think? I think he’s just like his father. He’s patient, calm and understanding. Very patient, I’ll give him that one. But you don’t want to hear the good stuff, right?”

“I mean...”

“He’s a Vampire Knight. That’s the bad stuff.”

“That’s not bad stuff at all.”

“It is for us. I heard you took care of those jerks that lived by you.”

Yuugi curled into himself and looked at the ground.

“This is what I'm talking about. He has no idea what it’s like to feel remorse. He was a Knight. He did what he needed to do without a second thought to it.”

“Like making me a Vampire.”

“See? You should hear him adamantly defending that decision too. It’s actually pretty sweet, in a Vampire way. Everyone here is like that. It’s hard to adjust to the stark differences in how we are. Humans strive for growth, they strive for absolution. It’s… it’s something.” She patted his hand and smiled at him. “What I’m trying to say is, I think you did good honey, and I think you’ll love it here if you give it a chance. I also think they’ve never run into anyone like you. You’ll take all of them unaware. I’ve been praying for a little help here. I promised his father I’d look out for him, and now that you’re here, we got a shot.”

Yuugi smiled at her. “Thank you. I feel better just knowing you’re here too.”

“Not just me! Serenity’s actually waiting for us. She’s going to design your clothes. Come on, honey. Let’s get you all set up.”

He smiled and stood up, following Joey’s mom through the door and down the hall. She led him through the castle to a room filled with sewing supplies and a sewing station in the corner. Serenity sat on a stool by an artists desk looking up at a boy around her age with thick black glasses. He put a rose in her hair and smiled at her then looked over to them, walking into the room. He looked back at Serenity and turned to walk away, moving past them without a word. Yuugi watched him leave then turned to Serenity. She was a bundle of gushing, swooning mush, sitting on the stool and staring after him. 

It made him laugh and she blushed scarlet even with the gasp of surprise finally realizing he was there. “Yuugi! You’re the Crowned Prince?!” She laughed and shook her head. “Small world, huh?”

Yuugi snickered, lifting his shoulders. “Yeah.”

“I’m surprised he came by,” Joey’s mom remarked casually.

“He’s going out with the gang for something. Wanted to check on me.”

“Are you going to ask him out already or do I have to endure this til I die?”

Serenity’s blush deepened and she shrank back on the stool. “I’m waiting… It’s usually the guy who asks the girl out.”

“Back in medieval times maybe.” Joey’s mom laughed and sat at the sewing machine. “He’s shy. Save the poor guy some trouble.”

“Anyway,” Serenity sang turning to Yuugi. “Come sit! Now that I know it’s you, I've already got it worked out.”

“What worked out?”

“Your outfit! This will be the easiest design session I've ever had.”

Yuugi laughed as she doodled away. 

\---

Atem walked through the hallways looking for Yuugi. He didn’t get to spend the last week with Yuugi at all. How was he supposed to prove that he wanted to be with him if he was working every second of every night? How did Kaiba find the time? Not that he found time at all. More often than not, Joey forced him to make time for him. Yuugi wasn’t like that. 

He walked by Kaiba’s office, seeing the door open and glanced inside. Kaiba would know where Yuugi was, but no one was at the desk. Now he wondered where he was too. He took a step to walk by when he heard Yuugi giggle. He felt an irrational wave of jealousy wash over him. Why was he in there? Was Kaiba in there too? He pushed open the door a little more and stepped inside, Yuugi was curled into a ball amongst stacks of books and pillows, giggling at the one in his hand. 

He smiled, watching Yuugi read; completely oblivious that he was even standing there. What was he reading that was so funny? Better ye,t what book could possibly be humorous in Kaiba’s office? Yuugi snorted and laughed, falling back into the books and making them slide to the floor. Only then did he look up and see Atem standing there. He tried to regain his composure, but little giggles still escaped his lips. “Hi! I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s alright. What are you reading?”

Yuugi handed him the book and he looked at the cover.

Then Yuugi. 

Then the cover. 

Then Yuugi again. “This book is not funny at all.”

Yuugi burst into laughter again, nodding his head. 

“It isn’t.”

“Yes it is!”

“How is this funny? Adonis died.”

“He died?!” Yuugi just laughed harder and his laughter started to make him laugh. 

“Come on. Show me what’s so funny.”

Yuugi took the book back and turned to the page he was on. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

Atem sat down amongst the books and pillows beside Yuugi, leaning over to see it better. “I read this 300 years ago. No, I don’t remember.”

“Kaiba has a lot of books on Lycans in here. The only reason I can see him having this one is because Adonis is helping a Vampire hunt down some werewolf guy that’s eating his goats. He talks about Lycans and how they hunt, but,” Yuugi started laughing again, “this guy through the whole book is so in love with this Vampire guy he apparently dies. You ruined it for me!”

“He is not in love with him.”

“He is!” Yuugi flipped through the book and read a passage from it, “His complexion is flawless, save for the scar on his right cheek. I wonder how he got it. If it was from a scorned lover or perhaps a scuffle in a tavern defending the honor a poor mistreated patron. He keeps looking at me, never my eyes, always lower. I wonder what he’s looking at.”

“Give me that.” Atem took the book and flipped a few more pages not remembering that at all. 

“He’s got a mad hard on for this guy, and,” Yuugi chuckled, “I’m pretty sure he’s just waiting to eat him.”

“If I remember right, he does.”

“He does?!” Yuugi laughed, leaning onto his shoulder so his bangs brushed against Atem’s cheek, looking down at the book. Reading over another passage, he attempted to hold in his laughter but it didn’t last long, “No one’s ever looked at me like that before. I was frozen by his gaze.’ Yeah. Like Joey looks at pizza.” Yuugi fall forward laughing into his lap. “How romantic?”

Atem laughed, shaking his head and waving the book so Yuugi would sit up. Not that he wanted him out of his lap. He did not. “Would you believe this is considered one of our great works that helped end the war?”

Yuugi fell back into his lap laughing.

“I’ll never read this the same again. Are any others like this one?”

“Oh yeah!” Yuugi sat up still laughing and grabbed another one from the stack. “This one talks about a woman whose husband becomes a Lycan and she only has the hots for him when he’s changed, ends up dying because she runs out naked while he’s destroying stuff thinking he’ll sleep with her instead.” Then he tossed that one aside and grabbed another one. “This one’s about a guy who thinks his neighbor is a Lycan and he totally is but literally all the ‘suspicious’ things happening is just him sneaking off with the guys wife.” He giggled again, tossing it aside and smiled down at one of them. He picked it up and handed it to Atem. “This one’s my favorite though.”

Atem looked at the book and frowned. “Don’t ruin that one for me. That’s one of my favorites.”

Yuugi started laughing again and shook his head. “No I’m not going to ruin it. It’s really good.” He shifted beside him and gestured to a large stack against the wall. “These aren’t Kaiba’s. I got them from the library. They’re all like this one. They’re about the knights.”

Atem looked at all of them and smiled, glancing at Yuugi. “So you liked them?”

“I’m a huge sucker for Knights,” he said wistfully gazing at the books. When Atem smirked at him, his eyes widened, realizing what he’d said, and cleared his throat. “I mean I really like  _ stories _ about knights. My friend named his dogs after some of King Arthur's knights.” He quickly darted his eyes away, restacking the books, making Atem’s smirk widen. “So anyway. Yeah. That’s what I've been up to. What were you in here for?”

“I was looking for you.”

“Oh, well, uh… you found me.”

Atem snickered, “I did. Did you read all of them?”

Yuugi reached up, twirling a lock of his hair, and nodded, smiling wistfully at them again. “Yeah! I love them. They’re really interesting... Did they really happen?”

He glanced at the stack of books again, looking over the spines to double check. “Yes and no. Yes, they are about real events and real people, but they are told through the perspective of the ones writing it. Who really knows?”

Yuugi grabbed one of the books and looked down at the cover. “So there really was a battle over a princess like this one talks about?”

He grabbed the book and opened it up. “Oh, I remember this.”

Yuugi leaned closer so their shoulders were touching and looked down at the book. “Read it before?”

“No. My old Grandmaster used to talk about this all the time.” He flipped through the pages and pointed to the name of one of the knights that fought for the princess. “He used to say Sir Bril was a demon in battle. She terrified him.”

“She?”

“Yes we have women and men in our Order. It is actually why Marquiness Lilly became a Vampire. She wanted to be a knight and fought for the honor to be one of ours. The rumor among the Orders is she bested our greatest knight.”

“Kaiba’s mom?”

Atem smiled at him. “Who said that?”

“Joey did. Well he said she was like a mom.”

Nodding, he pointed to the page talking about Sir Bril seizing the castle. “The part not in this book is about the princess. Grandmaster Devrim said she was ordered to be killed because she refused to hand over her brother, Prince Lione. He tried to assassinate the King, failed, and went into hiding. His sister was harboring him.”

“So… wait. That’s not what happened here.”

“That’s what was supposed to happen. Instead, Sir Bril went in and rescued them both, cutting down an entire regiment to protect her. She got them out, took them to a group of humans to hide her and her brother, then went to the court.”

“That’s not in here either. It stops after she gets them out.”

“Yes, the end is sad. She killed herself so they couldn’t find out where the princess was. Her last words…” He looked up at the books then around Kaiba’s office. It wouldn't be in there. “Come with me.”

He took Yuugi’s hand and helped him up holding on to it as he lead him through the castle to the library. He pointed to a sword above the fireplace and smiled at Yuugi. “That’s a replica of her sword. We have one in every fortress of the Dark Order.”

“My body, his weapon. My soul, his forgiveness. My mind, his will. At his side I will find justice.”

“Her last words became our oath as Knights.” Atem snickered, looking at Yuugi’s sparkling eyes. “Grandmaster Devrim preferred to elaborate when we’d do ceremonies to include what she said before that since it was the defining moment for him where he felt proud to be a knight instead of forced into being a soldier.”

“Do you remember the rest?”

“I can’t forget it. It’s been said every few months for hundreds of years.”

“So what was the rest?”

“We are not warriors on bended knee to a tyrant. We are the Knights of the Dark Order and we belong to his most unholy and him alone. I vowed to end the suffering of this world and with my sword and my shield agony kneels before me. He will know what you have done when I face him in death and he will know me; his daughter and his most loyal knight. My body, his weapon. My soul his forgiveness. My mind, his will and at his side I will find justice, for tonight I am alive.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means Sir Bril experienced what it’s like to be alive.” He took Yuugi’s hand in his and smiled at him, lifting their entwined hands. “This.”

Yuugi lifted his shoulders. “Holding hands with the Princess?”

“No.” He laughed. “Are my hands cold?”

“No.”

“Because right now, I feel alive.” He lowered their hands and looked back up at the sword. 

“Talking about Knights makes you feel alive?”

He side eyed him and looked back up at the sword. “No.” Then he smirked. “It might have something to do with you saying you are a ‘huge sucker for Knights’.”

Yuugi yanked his hand away, covering his cheeks. “Oh my god.”

He laughed and wrapped his arm around his waist. “I’m alive when I feel honored. Being a knight made me feel that all the time.”

Yuugi looked up at him, still covering his cheeks with his hands. “I bet you miss it a lot.” 

Atem smiled at the look of sympathy in Yuugi’s eyes. He knew he’d understand. Yuugi let his hands lower from his face as he nodded. “I do-” he brushed a strand of Yuugi’s hair out of his face and behind his ear, resting his palm on his cheek- “but you brought it back.”

Yuugi’s face warmed under his hand. He chuckled and whispered loudly as he put his hand over Atem’s, “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Everything. I don’t even know… I like it though.”

Atem smirked and moved forward, brushing his lips over Yuugi’s and snickering when he impatiently kissed him. Yuugi moved back, smiling at him. “So what's your thing?”

“What?”

“Your  _ thing _ . Like-” Yuugi looked over to the books in the library and then smiled sheepishly. “Obviously mine’s Knights. What’s yours?”

“You?”

“No. I don’t count… Ugh! Never mind.”

“No. Explain,” Atem said, grabbing Yuugi so he wouldn’t try to get away. “Do you mean what I like to read about?”

Yuugi didn’t answer him at first, refusing to make eye contact. “Not exactly.”

Oh. Now he got it. Glancing up around the library, he tried to think if they had any books here that would work. He kissed Yuugi on the neck then walked away from him towards a shelf he put his books he brought with him from home. He picked up his favorite one, perfect for this particular question. Walking back over to Yuugi, he smiled, holding it out. “This IS my favorite book and you’ll never find another copy of it. It was written by a very good friend of mine.”

“Is it real like the other ones?”

“No, it’s purely fiction.”

Yuugi narrowed his eyes and smirked at him. “Should I be concerned?”

He laughed as Yuugi took the book and looked it over. 

“What’s it ab-”

“Your majesty! There you are.” Mahado walked into the library with Mai right behind him. 

Atem sighed then smiled at Yuugi. “Read it. Let me know what you think.”

He beamed and nodded.

“Alright Mahado. What is it?”

“We have new reports coming in that you should look over, your majesty.”

Mai winked at Yuugi and turned to walk out of the library. “They’re fun, that’s for sure.”

Atem sighed, “Wonderful.”

\---

After another week of not seeing Yuugi, Atem went back to his room well into the day. He was dead tired, but he wanted to make sure Yuugi was alright. He slowly opened the door, peering inside at a bundle of blankets with Yuugi’s arm sticking out. Why was he still wearing his shirt? He shook his head and closed the door. Maybe he should see if Karen would make him sleep clothes. He walked over to his lamp, starting to turn it out when he noticed something sitting on his bed. He walked over to it and tilted his head. The book he’d given Yuugi was on his bed with something sticking out of it. He opened it up and saw a note in there from him. 

‘You’re really lucky I know how to read Arabic. Did you forget it’s written in that? Still, this was the best book recommendation I think I’ve ever gotten in my entire life. I could not put it down! Did your friend really write this? How old is it? It feels old, but I’ve never read anything like it. I love it. Did Joey tell you to give it to me? I’m also a sucker for Egyptian history. All of it. Even during the Ottoman empire, like this book. Your friend took a LOT of creative liberty with the government system, but it’s beautiful. I see what your thing is now. ;)

P.s. I read the inscription on it. I know this might be a touchy subject, but I’d love to talk to you about it, about who wrote it. Only if you want to. 

Atem snickered at Yuugi’s little doodles of crowns, swords, and shields. He actually did forget about it being written in Arabic. He wondered why Yuugi knew Arabic, and already had so many questions he wanted to ask him about what he thought of the book. He moved the note, setting it down on the bed, and read the inscription on the front page. He sighed, his smile fading as he brushed his fingers over the page.

‘ _ I still can’t believe you wanted this thing. It’s the worst bit of literature in existence, but thank you friend. For everything. I was wrong. Reading this again, it reminded me that we are both outside of the realms of society. I will not be like them. You’re a good man, a good friend and a good soul. We’re not enemies, but unfortunate friends. We may never speak again, but I won’t forget you. ~Emek’ _

Maybe this wasn’t the best book to give Yuugi right off the bat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case it's not clear enough, and because I really want you peeps to know, Atem's 'thing' is the 'royal bodyguard' stuff. And thus the doodles of crowns, swords, and shields. He's a little too happy that Yuugi's title is 'Crowned Prince'. I'll just say that ; )


	7. Chapter 7

After a week of too much work to do and not enough time to catch Yuugi before he was already involved in something else, he paced in front of the fireplace in the library, sulking. He loved that Joey was helping Yuugi feel more at home here, but at the same time, he was eating into his time with him. He had so little of it. Maybe he should nudge Kaiba into bothering them more. That wasn’t difficult to do. He smiled and sighed, shaking his head as he gazed into the fireplace.

The clock on the far wall chimed at Noon. He should give it up and just go to sleep. He left the library, walking down the quiet halls until he made it to his room. He walked inside, closing his door and looking at the closed door to Yuugi’s room. He was probably asleep. It was late. So he walked over to his bed and sat down on it. It might be late, but he wasn't tired yet. 

So he did what he normally did before bed, opening the nightstand drawer and grabbing a loop of string. He closed the drawer and sat up in bed, resting his back against his pillows and looped it around his hands. He smiled at it, looping the string through his fingers, making a diamond pattern with it. Then he brought it up to his mouth, pinching some of the string and pulled it back to make another shape. Just as he did that, Yuugi’s door opened up and he peeked inside. “What are you doing?” he giggled, walking into the room.

Atem smiled and finished what he was doing, releasing the string from his lips. “Playing Cat’s Cradle.”

“What is that?”

“One of the oldest games in history. Want to play with me?”

“Yeah!” Yuugi’s eyes sparkled in the lamplight as he walked over to the bed, staring at the string with a delighted smile. “How do you do it?”

He started over, looping the string around his hands and sliding his fingers through it to make a cat's cradle again. “Okay you pinch the string here, and here,” he said, pointing with his nose to the middle of the x’s and smiled at Yuugi’s giggles. “I don’t have hands to show you.”

“Okay. I’ll try.” He pinched the string between his fingers with one hand.

“And use the other for the other side.”

He did. “Okay.”

“Now… Hmmmm….” He tilted his head and let the whole thing go. “No, that’s not going to work. Let’s try this.” He looped the string around Yuugi’s hands and showed him how to make a cat’s cradle. “This is the first step. It’s the actual cat’s cradle. Then the other player does this-” He pinched the middle of the x’s and pulled it out and down, spreading his fingers through the middle he created in the string pattern- “and this is the second step.”

“What do you do now?”

“Pinch the middle of the x’s just like before and pull it outside the cradle, then through the middle.”

“Okay…” Yuugi tried, but it became a jumbled mess of string. He laughed and shook his head. “This is hard.”

“It gets harder. Especially when you start playing faster.”

“Faster?!”

He laughed. “Yes. It’s really easy when you get the hang of it so you play fast, then whoever messes up loses.”

“No pressure,” Yuugi giggled and made the cats cradle again. 

He showed Yuugi how to lay through the whole set and they started again. The last step always tripped him up and Yuugi had trouble with it too, but they got the hang of it and were playing easily now. He glanced up at Yuugi, smiling at how interested and happy he looked playing this game with him. “Do you like games like this?”

“I love them! Grandpa owns a game shop and we play all the games in there. I like puzzles too. He got me a puzzle ring set from Cairo when he visited while I was little. I should ask him to send it to me.”

“Maybe we can get you some more. I know you’re bored.”

“I’m only a little bored. There’s lots to read and Joey’s a mess.”

He snickered, nodding and taking the string from Yuugi, “Yes he is.”

Yuugi took the string back from him and he looked at it, trying to decide if it was right or not. He had a string twisted around that wasn’t supposed to be there, but Atem decided not to say anything. “I used to play this all the time when I was little.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I taught my best friend how to play; the one who wrote that book.” The cradle failed, twisted and wrong, just like he thought it would be, and he smiled at it, starting over. “I was meaning to ask you, how do you know Arabic?”

Yuugi beamed and sat up a little straighter. “Grandpa taught me. He used to go to Egypt all the time for expeditions and just traveling. He loved Egypt and I do too. So I asked him to teach me.” Yuugi took his turn and hummed. “My dad was really proud of me when I called him and had whole conversation with him in Arabic. It’s one of my favorite memories of him.”

“Do you still keep up with it?”

Yuugi nodded, offering him the string. 

Atem sighed in relief and took his turn, saying in Arabic,  _ “I really miss hearing it. This language you have is nice but it’s not like home. I mi-” _ he looked up at Yuugi giving him the strangest expression he’d ever seen on him.  _ “What?” _

“I’m pretty sure you're not real.”

Atem snickered, “Why do you say that?”

“I’m not answering that. You already have WAY too much leverage on me.”

He laughed, gesturing to the string Yuugi had bundled up in his lap.  _ “I guess I’ll have to even it up then.” _

_ “How… uh how…” _ Yuugi laughed and shook his head. “Yeah I can’t even think right now. Thanks for that.”

_ “You’re welcome, your majesty.” _ He laughed when Yuugi wrinkled his nose at him. “How about I explain the inscription? Would that satisfy you?”

Yuugi’s grin disappeared and he suddenly became very serious. It made him smile, not because this subject was at all a happy one, but Yuugi treated it with as much care as he’d expect from him. It was always refreshing and something he loved about him. “Do you want to talk about it? I don’t want you to feel like you have to. If you don’t want to, that’s-”

Atem leaned forward and kissed him, stopping that sentence before he could continue it. He wouldn’t have suggested it if he didn't want to. “It’s alright. I don’t mind.”

Yuugi lifted his shoulders and smiled sheepishly at him. “Okay.”

“Emek and I grew up together. We were best friends. We used to talk about what it would be like to fight for our homes and our families. Defending those that needed it. Being heroes. He was what inspired me to become a knight.” He looked up at Yuugi and continued to play, spreading the string through his fingers and offering it to Yuugi for his turn. “When we grew up, he joined the army. I had just joined the Order when he went to war. I had what felt like a war with my mother about it. She hated the idea. Didn’t want me involved in that, but I’d already made my oath. She couldn't stop me. So I stayed with the Order. A while after that I was patrolling a village, that I can't for the life of me remember the name of. There was a battle with the Ottoman’s just outside it. I was told that my friend was in that battle and I had to help him. They were getting slaughtered out there. So me and two of the new recruits like me, who lived in Egypt all our lives and didn’t want to lose our homes, our culture, and our lands to the Ottoman’s, went to help fight against them.” 

Atem took a breath to continue, but Yuugi leaned forward, snatching the string away from him and staring wide eyed. “Wait, what?”

He laughed, waiting for Yuugi to reset the game. “I went to help fight against them.”

“‘Them’ being the Ottoman’s. You were there when Egypt was taken over by the Ottoman empire.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re what...500 years old?”

“I’m actually 600ish years old. That battle was one of many that started the invasion. Egypt was not in a good place back then.”

“No. No it wasn’t… So… you lived in Egypt all your life?”

He nodded. “Yes, but I’ve traveled all over the world. I’m a knight and as such we participate in wars and disputes everywhere, not just my country.”

“So you were in the World Wars?”

Atem looked away from Yuugi, frowning and gesturing to the string. “Are you finished playing?”

“Atem.”

“Yes, I was.”

“Why don’t you want to talk about it?” Yuugi leaned forward eyeing him with a mocking grin. “Were you on the bad side?”

Atem snickered, shaking his head, “Yes and no.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“During the first World War, court took the stance of ‘let the humans kill each other’. The Order did not. I wasn’t a Grandmaster yet, so I had to follow Grandmaster Devrim’s Orders and he firmly believed we should go in and kill everyone to help the first World War along.”

“And the second one?”

“We stayed out of it. Entirely. We had orders if we became involved in any way we were to be charged with treason. Many of my friends were killed helping people get out of Europe. When the war bleed into Egypt I had to stand back and watch them tear each other apart. The Order changed a lot after the second world war. We broke off from the court entirely. We don’t take orders from the king, never have, but the Dark Order used to be lead by one, the Right Hand, and since that war, we eliminated that position and we no longer were one Order, but hundreds. We do what we feel his most unholy would want and that war… was not what he wanted. We will not allow it to happen again.”

“I can’t see someone named ‘unholy’ caring about that.”

“Well, I like to look at it this way: we are not here to save the innocent or fight for what’s right. We are here to ease the suffering of this world in a very merciful and… permanent way. If the Humans wish to bring about another world war like that one, we’ll take care of it. The permanent way. I don’t care if I’m king or not I’ll lead them myself. That war was about nothing but suffering. It will not happen again.”

“Ahh. I got it. That makes a lot more sense and sounds more Vampiry.”

Atem grinned. “Most humans would be appalled by that.”

“I mean,  _ I’m _ appalled, but you know... What do I know?” He laughed as Yuugi brought the sting back out so he could take his turn. “Sorry I interrupted you. So what happened? Did you make it to him in time?”

“I did. Honestly, I don’t know how I’m even here right now. Abandoning your post is a very serious offence, especially for a new recruit. I could’ve died in that battle or died when I got back, but I couldn’t leave him to that. They didn’t have enough men. That’s not his fault. We ended that battle easily, despite us being new to everything. A group of Vampires against a bunch of Humans not knowing they’re fighting Vampires wasn’t terribly difficult…” he snickered then sighed, taking his turn. “But the men on our side turned on us when they realized we weren’t human. My friend tried to kill me.”

Yuugi stopped playing all together and stared at him, horrified. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a risk we all agreed to take. I didn’t go out there for him alone. I did it for my home too.”

“Yeah… Still…”

“It worked out in the end though. I got that book a few years later with the inscription in it. But the real surprise wasn’t the book or the inscription, it was who gave it to me.” He looked up and couldn’t help but smile as Yuugi bit his tongue in the corner of his mouth, looking down at the string with bewilderment and concentration that was way too much for a simple game like this. “Adom gave it to me.”

“Adom?” He looked up and tilted his head, smiling. “Must be a popular name when you were younger. That’s the name of the Sultan’s son in the book.”

“Yes it is.” He smirked. “Emek wrote that book for Adom. He gave it to him before he went to battle because he was too embarrassed to face him after that. He told me he really hoped that he’d die before he ever found out what Adom thought of it. When Adom gave me the book he told me Emek died in battle, a hero like he wanted to be, and that if it wasn’t for me he never would’ve known that Emek felt that way about him. He thanked me.” 

“Thanked you for saving Emek’s life?”

“No. He thanked me for making Emek write that book for him. Apparently, after he read it, he started writing Emek while he was away. They were able to see each other for a few months before he was pulled back into battle.”

“That’s really romantic,” Yuugi murmured, smiling wistfully at the string, “Was Adom a prince like he is in the book?”

Atem took his turn, stretching the string between his fingers and looking back up at him. “Not at all. He was the son of a long line of cobblers, but the way Emek talked about him, he might as well have been. Everything else about Adom is right though. He talked, acted, and looked exactly as the book describes.”

“Wow! I thought the book was great before, but that just made it 10 times better.” Yuugi squealed and giggled, “I’m assuming he made himself Gamal?”

“No. He made Gamal everything he wished he was. He’s nothing like that. The only part of Emek in Gamal was the long, long ogling sessions he did with Adom.”

Yuugi burst into laughter, doubling over. 

“What? It’s true.”

“I believe you.” They played the game a little longer before Yuugi looked up at him, then quickly darted his eyes back down. “Did you like anyone like that? Like Emek with Adom?”

He smiled and watched Yuugi take his turn. “Yes. You.”

“Before me.”

“No.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Being a Knight means giving your mind, body, and soul to the Order. We’re not allowed.”

“That doesn't mean you can’t like someone.”

“It doesn’t, but you didn't ask if I ‘liked’ anyone. You asked if I liked someone like Emek did Adom. That wasn’t ‘like’, that was love borderlining on obsession.”

Yuugi giggled and smirked at him. “So you love slash are obsessed with me?”

“Yes.”

He smiled, shaking his head. 

“What about you?”

Yuugi’s fingers curled and he lowered the strong to the mattress, staring down at it with a strange smile. “You know, I thought so, but now I’m not really sure.”

“Why do you say that?”

He looked back up at him, lifting his hands, and stared down at the string again. “I don’t think I ever felt like that before. Not like he did for Adom. Wow.”

“Do you feel like that now?”

“No.” Yuugi lifted his shoulders and smiled, bright and alive, and Atem was unable to look away no matter how much he feared what he was about to say. “But I don’t think I could possibly relate to Adom more. I have a really good idea how he had to feel after he read that book. He was probably freaking out and doing everything he could to find Emek just to make sure what he thought it meant was what it actually did. And how he had to feel when he found out it was,” he murmured, then his smile faded and he looked down, like he thought of something sad. Then held his hands up for Atem to take his turn. “I bet he couldn’t believe anyone loved him that much or thought of him like that and didn’t feel like he deserved it at all. He probably felt like love like that wasn’t real and even if it was, it wasn’t for him.”

He took his turn, glancing up at Yuugi’s pained frown. They took a few more turns, but his frown stayed. Atem sighed, reaching out and pulling him into his arms, laying back against the bed with him. Yuugi held on to him, burying his face in his chest. Atem just held him there for a while, listening to his uneven breathing. 

“You deserve all the love in the world, Yuugi.” Then he smiled, kissing the top of his head. “I’m not sure if you really want the borderline obsessive part though. You don’t deserve to deal with that.”

Yuugi snickered, turning his head. “I’m pretty sure, after talking to Joey about some of the others, obsessive is just part of Vampire DNA.”

“Well I was talking about Emek, but yes you are right.” He laughed, laying his head on Yuugi’s. “You're a Vampire too. What are you obsessed with?”

“I’m not answering that.”

“It’s a legitimate question.”

“A legitimate question you already know the answer to and just like hearing.”

“Oh, so me?”

“Urgh!”

“So what I’m hearing is, if I tell you some of my stories from being a knight in Arabic, you’ll be at my mercy.” 

“I hate you so much,” Yuugi giggled, pushing himself up and grabbing a pillow. He hit him with it and jumped down off the bed. “I’m going to bed and I’m taking this with me.”

He laughed, watching Yuugi leave with his pillow. It’s a good thing he had others. Talking about his past in Egypt and the book gave him an idea as he turned his attention to his own bedroom door. He jumped out of bed and walked over to it; opening it and slowly closing it behind him with his eyes on Yuugi’s door. He walked down the hallway to Karen’s sewing area and smiled when he saw her awake and walking around with coffee in her hands. She looked up at him and took off her glasses. “Your majesty! What are you doing wake?”

“You do know that you need to sleep, right, Karen? Humans go crazy on no sleep.”

She laughed, setting her coffee mug down next to her sewing machine. “I do know that. I’m already crazy though, so it’ll take a little longer to be noticeable.”

He snickered and walked over to her machine as well. She looked him over and smiled. “You seem to be in a really good mood for not being asleep right now.”

“I was playing a game with Yuugi.”

“Ahhh. What are you in here for then?”

“I need a favor.”

“You are the king. I think I’m supposed to say something like ‘as you wish, your majesty’.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Where’s Serenity?”

“Right here!” He looked over to where the voice came from and saw a hand shoot up from behind another sewing desk. 

“What are you doing?”

“Needed a change in scenery. So what's up?”

“I wanted to know if you could make clothes for Yuugi.”

Serenity pushed herself up so her eyes were peaking over the desk. “The usual or do you have something in mind?”

“I do.”

“Well come here!” 

He snickered walking over to her and sat down on the floor beside her. She flipped her notepad page over to a fresh sheet and smiled at him. “I’m ready when you are.”

“It’s not what you normally do.”

“Good! I’m tired of looking at black.”

He laughed and nodded. “I can only imagine. I want you to make him clothes like the Ottoman Sultans wore.”

“Oh! The harem pants?”

He laughed. “I believe they’re called Sirwal, but yes.”

She giggled and bounced, excitedly drawing up a design on the notepad. “The dress part too?”

“That’s up to you.”

She side eyed him then smirked. “I’m taking creative liberties here.”

He laughed and watched her draw. Then she stopped and started drawing another design. A coat that buttoned up to go over the pants she’d drawn. “What do you think?”

“It’s perfect. You really are a miracle worker.”

“Ha! No, mom is the miracle worker, right mom?”

“Damn straight!”

“Mom!”

“What? Let me see!”

Serenity scrambled to her feet and rushed over to her mom while Atem stood up. She showed it to her mom who put her glasses back on. She looked it over, then back to Atem. “Do you want these colors?”

Serenity interjected, “I was thinking black and cream.”

“It needs embroidery...”

“My girl Mythri rocks at embroidery. Did you see her cowl?”

“Perfect! Have Butch bring her by. I’ll trade her.”

Serenity laughed and turned her attention back to him. “What do you want embroidered on it?”

He frowned, thinking that over. “Actually… do you think you could do a crown and sword?”

“Oooo can we put colors in the sword?! I think Yuugi would love that!”

“I’ll leave it to you. You both are the experts, or I should say, leave it to Mythri.”

“Exactly. We’re on the case! Now get to bed. We have work to do!” Karen stood up from the sewing machine and ushered him out of the sewing room, closing the door behind him.

He snickered and shook his head, walking back to his room. He was dead tired.

\---

Atem sat in the library with Kaiba finishing up reading through the reports Mahado gave him. Mokuba and his friends sent in a report about the Lycans from Kaiba’s district. They were doing really well, and they were mixing with the Vampires in the city peacefully, living beside them and going to similar places now that the wall between them was torn down. If it stayed going this well he’d have a real example to show the court. This could work. They’d all be stronger for it if it did. They just needed to give it a chance.

The door to the library opened up and Yuugi walked inside. He started to say hello to him, but Yuugi was pretty focused on Kaiba. He looked nervous and maybe a little upset, but he had no idea what would cause it. Yuugi walked up to the chair Kaiba sat in, making him look up. “Something wrong, Mouto?”

“I just wanted to say I was sorry about today.”

Atem quirked a brow, looking between them, but Kaiba didn’t look like he had any idea what Yuugi as talking about. He frowned at Yuugi and that just seemed to make him more nervous. He rang his hands together, but tried as hard as he could not to look away. Atem was impressed by that. 

“I know you’re really busy. We weren’t meaning to bother you so much.”

Atem stared at Kaiba, watching him go from confused to understanding in a snap. Lifting his papers to cover his mouth, Atem watched the exchange, refusing to intervene even when Kaiba flashed him a glance. He was on his own here. Kaiba glared at him then snapped his glare up to Yuugi. “Don’t apologize for something you don’t intend to correct. Anything else?”

Yuugi’s eyes widened and he blinked, too shocked to say anything. Kaiba thought he was off the hook, returning his gaze to the papers, but Atem knew Yuugi wasn’t going to just walk away like everyone else. This would end in Yuugi’s feelings getting hurt and Kaiba feeling like a dick or Yuugi giving him a long lecture about something that wasn’t even happening, making him explain himself. Both outcomes made the extra work he had to do before bed completely worth it. If only Joey were here to enjoy this moment too.

Yuugi regained some of his composure and pressed again. “I don’t understand how you can think that. This castle is huge. It’s not like we’re purposefully bothering you.”

Wrong. Joey was purposefully bothering Kaiba. 

Kaiba sighed in frustration, realizing Yuugi wasn’t going to let it go and looked back up. “You’re purposefully bothering me now.”

“I'm trying to talk to you.”

“I have  _ important _ work to do.”

A look of hurt flashed across Yuugi’s face and Kaiba looked back down at his papers. So they were going that route. Then Yuugi scrunched up his nose glaring at Kaiba. “Important work you spent at least an hour or more not doing because you were too busy yelling at Joey about something unimportant?”

“I wasn’t yelling at Joey.”

Atem’s grin widened not believing his luck. So this was going both ways? Yuugi never stopped surprising him. “You were and I’m not really sure how you even heard us or were bothered by us in the first place. This room is clear on the other side of the castle.”

Kaiba threw the papers down onto the table and shot up from the chair. Atem lowered his to, not really sure where this was going and thinking maybe he should’ve intervened. “What I do and where I am is none of your business.”

Yuugi somehow still stood his ground while Kaiba swept around him and stomped out of the library, slamming the door behind him. Yuugi watched him leave and his shoulders dropped when the door slammed closed. He turned back to the chair frowning, but he wasn’t angry, just disappointed. Atem smiled at him, leaning forward. “Come here, Yuugi.”

He sighed, looking up at him and walked over to the sofa. “I was just trying to apologize.”

“I know,” he murmured as Yuugi sat on the sofa and laid back against him. Atem wrapped his arms around him and kissed his forehead. “But you didn’t have anything to apologize for.”

“I did. You don’t know how much-”

“I actually do. He just misses him.”

“I don’t think yelling at someone is spending time with them.”

“Then you haven’t been around those two long enough,” Atem snickered. “When Kaiba misses him he goes out to find wherever he is and starts bickering with him. Just like Joey comes in here and actively bothers him until he pays attention to him. It’s just how they are.”

“Why didn’t he just say that?”

“Because they will both die before they have to admit anything.” 

“I get that but why was he being mean about it?”

“You’re the first person that didn't drop it after the first snide remark.”

“Yeah…”

“And you backed him into a corner.”

“...yeah…”

“What was he supposed to do?”

“Great,” Yuugi groaned, burying his face in Atem's neck, “I embarrassed him.”

“Yes you did. Thank you for making my day a million times better. Here I was thinking I’d die of boredom from these reports but you came in and saved the day.”

Yuugi sat up glaring at him and it just made him laugh. He reached up, brushing Yuugi’s bangs from his face, and started to say something when the door to the library swung open, hitting the wall hard. “What the hell happened?”

Yuugi sat up and Atem did too, seeing Joey standing in the doorway. When he saw Yuugi he blinked, the fight leaving him. “Ya alright Yuug’? What’s goin’ on with Kaiba?”

Yuugi shrank back into the sofa and Atem snickered, “Yuugi might’ve embarrassed him.”

“I’m really sorry, Joey.”

Just like he knew he would, Joey’s worried frown turned to a gleeful grin. “What’d ya do ‘cause he’s pissed?”

Yuugi buried his face in his hands shrinking into the sofa with a groan. 

Atem patted his leg and laughed. “It’s okay. He’s always mad.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“What happened? Come on Atem spill.” Joey walked into the room the door closing behind him. 

“Remember when you were hanging around that human servant Victoria?”

“Yeah?”

“And she went to Kaiba to apologize for bothering him.”

Joey cringed. “Oh man. I’m sorry Yuug’. I shoulda warned ya. He can be a dick.”

“Oh no. It gets better. She stopped after he didn’t accept her apology. Yuugi did not.”

Joey lit up and laughed. “Course he didn’t. He’s my best friend.” He reached out and hit Yuugi’s leg, making him look up at him. “It’s really fine. Kaiba’s fine.”

“I wasn’t trying to make things worse. I was just trying to talk to him.”

Joey snickered, “Ya didn’t make things worse. Trust me.”

“I did. You came in here because he was upset.”

Joey laughed, leaning back on the chair then falling forward to scratch his nose. “Oh man. I’m so glad you’re here. Ya didn’t make him upset ya embarrassed him. I embarrass him all the fuckin’ time. Really. He’s fine.”

“I don’t think-”

“Guarantee ya he doesn’t say a word ta us all day tomorrow. Maybe even for the rest of the week, and when he does talk ta ya again, he’ll be a lot nicer. I promise.”

Yuugi didn’t seem convinced. 

Atem brushed his fingers over Yuugi’s shoulder. “Let’s go to bed Yuugi. It’s been a long night.”

“I guess.”

“Go ta sleep Yuug’. I’ll make sure Kaiba’s fine.”

Yuugi reluctantly nodded and stood up from the sofa.


	8. Chapter 8

The next few days, Yuugi read more, ran around the castle with Joey and didn’t get to see Atem at all. He missed him, but he didn’t want to bother him. He knew he was busy. So that evening when he woke up, he went to the kitchen and grabbed one of the packs from the cabinet Joey showed him. Then he walked back to his room to decide what he wanted to do for the night. He walked inside and shut the door, leaning against it and looking around the room. He really did love it. It was starting to feel like his, feel like home and he had a really hot neighbor. He stared at the door connecting their rooms trying to decide whether to see if he was in there or not. Probably not. He didn't get back until really early in the morning before, but he knew Atem didn’t sleep very long. 

He sighed and walked back over to the bed when he noticed something sitting on Atem’s pillow (that he still hadn't given back to him nor planned to). He smiled, tilting his head at the tan wrapping tied with yarn and a card stuck under it. He took the card out and opened it up. 

‘Hey Yuugi! Atem said you needed sleep clothes and had a special request. I used your measurements for your other clothes which should be ready sometime tomorrow. I hope you like them. Mom and I LOVE THEM! We had Mythri do the embroidery cause she rocks at it! She did all this in two days, like I’m stunned. Make sure you show us when you wear them. We want to see too! ~Serenity’

He thought it was sweet that Atem told them about that. Though he was wondering how he knew he didn't have sleep clothes in the first place. He glanced at the door between their rooms and shook his head, snickering. Obsessive. Maybe he should lock the door. He wasn't going to but it was a thought. Setting the card down on the bed, he grabbed the package and untied the yawn. It opened easily and revealed beautiful cream and black… somethings. He frowned at it and took it out of the package. It was a coat or jacket of some kind, pants? And what the hell was that? He didn’t know what to make of it, but decided to try it on anyway. 

Once he got the pants on, he started to realize what it was they made him. These weren’t PJS. He tied the sash around his waist, put the jacket on and buttoned it, walking over to the floor length mirror that was in his room not Atem’s. Looking at himself, he felt like an Arabian Prince like the one in the book Atem gave him to read. Black pants with a cream colored coat that opened at his hip and flared down to his thighs, black claw like embroidery reaching up from the edges. Turning so he could see the back, he gasped. “Oh wow…”

Whoever Mythri was, she deserved a cookie or a golden star or her weight in gold or something. She embroidered a black crown like Atem’s across the shoulder part of the coat with a sword down the spine. The blade was bright with all the colors of the rainbow like it was actually just a sword like cut out of a bouquet of exotic flowers. He stood back facing the mirror dazed and floored that he had this. That they MADE it and it was something Atem wanted designed for him. This had to be the sweetest, most elaborate, and most romantic gift he’d ever gotten. He lifted his hands to cover his cheeks, his eyes darting up to his reflection’s face, sure he was red as a lobster. 

But he wasn’t. He wasn’t blushing, and despite swearing he was on the verge of crying, he didn’t look like that either. 

He blinked, then laughed. “Okay. I can deal with the blood part. No blushing and crying is hands down the best. I love being a Vampire.” He laughed again, smoothing out the clothes and looking down at himself. “I have to thank them. I have to thank Atem.”

He raced over to the door separating their rooms and pushed it open, then the next one, but Atem’s room was empty like he’d thought it would be. “Damn it.”

He huffed, and walked back out, closing both doors behind him. He’d just have to thank him later. So he ran out of his room and down the hall towards the sewing room, hoping they’d be in there. He opened the door and nothing. They were gone too. “Well…“

Sighing, he closed the door and looked around. No one was there. Not even Joey. Where'd everyone go? Grumbling at first, he started to walk towards the library. There was usually someone in there. His grumbles didn't last long when he crossed his arms over his chest, it made him look down at his clothes and instantly beam. He was probably going to be a smiling idiot for the rest of the night at least. There as no stopping it. 

Walking into the library, he saw no one in there too, but that was fine. He could read while he was waiting. So he walked up to the shelves about Vampire history and picked up the first volume of a long set talking about the beginning of their history. He read snippets of their history in the other books but never a chronological order of it. This would be a good place to start. So he brought the book over to the floor in front of the fireplace and moved the chairs around so he had room to lay on the floor and read, grabbing a pillow from the sofa to stuff under his chest and elbows. Perfect. 

“Emperor? When did they go from Emperors to Kings?” he mumbled to himself and began to read.

\----

Atem stood in the doorway to the library staring at Yuugi on his back with a book in the air; smiling at the pages and tapping his foot. Just like in Kaiba’s office he was surrounded by stacks of books, but these all looked to be part of the same collection. Not that he was really paying much attention to the nest of books and pillows he made for himself on the floor, he was more focused on the clothes Karen and Serenity made for him. Yuugi looked absolutely stunning; hair wild against the pillow behind his head, glowing in the firelight and making his eyes shimmer. He needed a picture of this.

As much as he wanted to talk to him, to see him better, he didn't want to disturb him. This was probably the happiest he’d seen Yuugi since he came to the castle (aside from giggling about the books in Kaiba’s office). It wasn’t what he was reading that made him appear happy this time, he just was. 

“Your fiance is a complete nerd,” Mai whispered beside him making him jump. She quietly snickered and looked back at him, “All he needs is thick black glasses and there’s no denying it.”

“He’s not… okay maybe so, but it’s part of his charm.”

She snickered again and crossed her arms under her chest. “He can’t even hear us. He probably has no idea were even here. I wish I could do that. Those books bore me to tears.”

“A feat in itself since we can’t cry.”

Her shoulders shook with silent laughter as she nodded. “Exactly. I’m glad he looks happier. What happened?”

“I have no idea.”

“Where’d he get the weird clothes?”

“They’re not weird clothes. The sultans used to wear clothes like that.”

Mai eyed him then looked back at Yuugi. “You’re both adorable.”

“What?”

“I see what you’re doing,  _ Grandmaster of Egypt _ ,” she purred, swinging her hip out and enunciating his old title. Then she winked at him and walked around him to go down the hallway. “Enjoy your night with Prince Charming of Arabia.”

He wrinkled his nose at her. She was making fun of him, but he couldn’t stop smiling gazing back in the library at Yuugi, still reading his book and still tapping his foot. He shook his head, chuckling. He had no idea they were even there. 

As much as he loved staring at him, he wanted to talk to him too. “Yuugi.”

Nothing.

He laughed, leaning against the doorframe. “Dead to the world.”

“Hmm?” Yuugi turned his head to look at him and his eyes lit up. “There you are! I was looking for you.”

He bolted up, setting the book down to save his spot and jumped over the stacks of books and pillows that surrounded him. Atem barely got a step back before he jumped at him, wrapping his arms around his neck. “Thank you! So much!”

He snickered and hugged him back, kissing his neck. He was so warm and his warmth spread through him as well, seeping into his bones. “You’re welcome, habibi.”

Yuugi groaned and shook his head. “You’ve buttered me up enough. You don’t need to do that.”

He laughed and turned his head to whisper in his ear in arabic,  _ “But I have not told you any of my knight stories yet.” _

Yuugi groaned louder and stepped back, covering his cheeks with his hands. “You’re trying to kill me.”

Atem snickered, walking beside Yuugi back inside the library. “What are you reading?”

Yuugi sat back down in his nest of pillows and books and lifted up the one he was reading. “Vampire history from… the beginning, I guess, to now.”

“Don’t have a date?”

“Yes. There’s dates, but I have no idea what they are. I didn’t realize you guys had your own calendar too.”

“Our own calendar? Hmm well I suppose that makes sense. I’m sure one of the books here has it here.”

“I hope so. I’m pretty sure you’re missing a few volumes too. It just stops then starts back up.”

“That is strange.”

Yuugi shrugged his shoulders. “It’s really interesting though. I didn't know you were named after one of the kings.”

Atem frowned at him. “What?”

“You’re named after one fo the kings. See.” He picked up a book and handed it to him, grinning. “I loved reading about his reign. I need to find more books about it.” 

Atem smiled at the pages with his name written all over it. He didn’t know his father named him after this king. His mother just said it was a family name. “What part are you on now?”

“Your grandpa I think…”

“Grandfather and I wish you’d skip that.”

Yuugi snickered, “Why?”

“As my father put it, he was a bastard.”

Yuugi laughed. “Well, he can’t be much worse than Emperor M something. I can’t pronounce his name, but snap. Actually no I think Emperor Aleric is the worst so far.”

“Trust me, he was worse.”

“Now I’m definitely reading it.”

“You’ll learn about the war with the Lycans, I suppose.”

Yuugi gasped and looked down at the book. “That’s during his rule?! Yep you’re only talking me into reading it.”

Atem crossed the library and grabbed the book he knew was about the war, having it shoved at him every five seconds that he hadn’t read yet. “This is a more detailed account of the war and of my grandfather’s rule. Would you like to read it with me? It’s written by the Knights and Grandmasters during the war. A collection of reports and battles as well as court logs. It’s probably really dry but-” He looked up at Yuugi who was already moving things out of the way so he could sit with him and looked up smiling like he was just waiting for him to move. “So that’s a ‘yes’ then?”

“Of course it’s a yes!” he gasped, but Atem caught sight of his fangs poking his lips and red around the outside edges of his beautiful amethyst eyes. 

“Yuugi, how long have you been in here?”

“I don’t know. What time is it?”

He laughed and walked over to him, holding out his hand to help him up. “Let’s get something to eat. You’re hungry.”

“I- well… yeah I guess I am.” He looked at the clock and winced. “I didn’t realize it was that late.” He looked back at Atem and smiled sadly, taking his hand. “You probably need to get some sleep.”

“I had plenty of sleep, thank you very much. I need to read this book before Mahado has a conniption.”

He giggled, squeezing his hand. 

Holding his hand as they walked towards the library doors, Atem quirked a brow at Yuugi. “Why are you still warm?”

He lifted his shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve been like that since I put this on.”

He beamed and squeezed his hand back. This was so very worth it. Even with Mai teasing him about it. They walked out of the library, headed for the kitchen when Yuugi looked up at him. “So Capri Sun then back to the library?”

“What?” he laughed.

“That’s what I call those things. They remind me of the Capri Sun juice pouches I used to drink when I was younger all the time.”

“That’s a new one.”

“I’ll have to show you them. Once you see it you’ll know what I’m talking about.” Then Yuugi stopped abruptly. “Did you see the back of this?”

Atem blinked, surprised at the change of subject but when Yuugi turned so he could see the back of his coat, he was transfixed on it. He traced his fingers over the embroidery and shook his head. “Wow. This… is so much better than I was imagining.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Those two need a raise. I don’t think Mahado is paying them enough.”

“A raise and a vacation.”

He snickered, “Agreed.”

Yuugi turned back around and took his hand again, making him smile. THey walked to the kitchen and grabbed the pouches then left. Standing in the hallway, He stopped him. “Would you like to go to our room and read?”

“I’ll pass out on those clouds for beds. That’s a terrible idea.”

He laughed and nodded. “I’d rather not go to the library. We’ll be interrupted and if they see me awake, they’ll try to make me work.”

Yuugi smiled and nodded. “Outside?”

“It’s sun up.”

“Right… I like these clothes. Hmmmm…”

“I have an idea. Come on.”

He lead Yuugi through the hallways to the library. “Grab some pillows.”

Yuugi nodded and walked inside, grabbing a few of his pillows from the floor and cradling them to his chest. He smiled at him and waved him to follow. They walked through the halls to the entrance of the castle, then up the stairs that spiraled along the walls to a loft, opposite the large front doors. Above those doors was a perfect nook to sit in with a small stained glass window to provide them light for the book. It was perfect, assuming Yugi would go over there. It was a decnet jump, 2 stories up from the loft railing to the nook. 

“Think you can make it up there?”

Yuugi blinked at it. “What?”

He climbed up on the railing and jumped over to the nook, like he’d done at least a hundred times since coming to this castle. “Can you do that or are you afraid of heights? If you are, it’s fine. I’ll find somewhere else.”

“Uh no. Well you made it look easy.” Yuugi walked over to the railing and looked own. “Oh nooooo. This is a bad idea. How would we get down?”

“Jump of course.”

“Isn’t that how you break bones?”

He shrugged. “Nothing a little blood can’t fix.”

“You're crazy,” Yuugi giggled and looked back down then up at him. “Okay I’ll try it.”

“No. You will or we go somewhere else. I’m not letting you fall.”

Yuugi smiled and tossed him the pillows then climbed up on the railing. Atem knelt down, watching Yuugi, just in case he needed to move and catch him, but Yuugi almost effortlessly jumped over to the nook, standing there stunned. “I can’t believe I just jumped that far…”

“You’re a Vampire, habibi.”

“Still buttered up enough.”

He laughed, tossing the pillows against the wall below the window and sat down. Yuugi took the book from him and sat down too, snuggling into his side, and filling him with warmth all over gain. He sat the book between both of their laps and opened it up to the first page. Atem looked at him and smirked. “Are you going to read it to me?”

Yuugi looked up at him horrified. “Uh..”

“I mean, I can read it to you in Arabic.”

He scrunched up his nose at him, smirking back and shook his head. “You’re always going to do this, aren’t you?”

“Until you stop making faces like that, yes.”

He looked down at the book, frowning. “Do you really want me to read it to you?”

Snickering, Atem kissed Yuugi’s cheek and wrapped his arm round his back, bringing him closer. “I’d love that but,” he said then whispered, “we’re undercover right now.”

Yuugi rest his head against him and reached up to grab his hand. “Okay, then shhh.”

They sat like that together, reading the book and whispering to each other about what they read or when they were ready to turn the page. At some point during the book, Yuugi got ahead of him. He didn't know how it happened, but Yuugi was in his own world reading it, flipping pages without asking him if he was finished. Not that he minded. He read what he could of it, and let him flp the pages. The whole time staring at him, instead of reading the book like he should be doing. Yuugi’s eyes were bright reading over every line with so much interest, his fingers in his mouth like he waited on the edge of his seat for the next page. 

Atem realized, watching him, snuggled into his side, lifting his head up then laying it back down on him, that he made two really good decisions in his life. While most of his decisions ended in catastrophe, these two would always be the best things he’d ever done; becoming a knight and following Joey’s advice to go to that bar and meet the most intoxicating and alluring bookworm he didn’t know how he lived his whole life without. 

Yuugi looked up at him and smiled. “You’re not reading.”

“Well, you see I’m on page 47. What page are you on?”

Yuugi frowned and looked down. He gasped and looked right back at him, horrified. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize you weren’t ready for me to... why didn’t you say anything!?”

He brushed Yuugi’s bangs back from his face and smiled at him. “I was busy.”

“Busy what? Staring at me?”

“Yes. Did you know you zone out when you read? And you bite your finger tips. I could have left, got more blood, and came back and you wouldn't have noticed.”

“I would to!”

He laughed. “No you wouldn’t.”

Yuugi pouted, looking down at the book. “I’m sorry. I just…”

“It’s not a bad thing, Yuugi. There’s no need to apologize at all. I love watching you read.”

Yuugi looked back at him and smiled then narrowed his eyes. “How many times have you watched me read?”

“That’s a very incriminating question.”

Yuugi shifted so he could face him better and closed the book. “Seriously. How many times have you watched me read?”

“How many books do you read?”

“A lot.”

“I watch you a lot.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think you do. I would’ve seen you or heard you.”

“I’ve actually tried talking to you a few times too. Nothing.”

“Now I know you're making it up.”

He laughed and reached up brushing his fingers over Yuugi’s warm cheek. “Not at all. Did you know Mai came by while I was standing in the doorway earlier?”

“She did?”

“Yes, she did, and we had a full conversation while you were reading your book.”

Yuugi looked concerned and glanced down. “I wonder if I’ve missed everyone else talking to me too.”

“You haven’t missed anything. We all know you do it. Why do you think Joey literally blocks your view of the book?”

“I always thought he was just messing with me.”

Atem laughed, shaking his head. “No. I heard him say your name 4 times and you didn’t respond so he laid on you to get you to listen to him.”

“Yeah he does that all the time.”

“See?”

“But I still don’t see why you’re watching me. I’m just sitting there staring at a book.”

“You make faces while you read. When you first start the book you look serene, and when it’s interesting you chew your fingers. You gasp and laugh and grumble at the book to. Watching you read is just as relaxing as watching the ocean from my window back home in the moonlight. Just as exciting some days, just as peaceful others.”

“I think you’re right,” Yuugi said with a smirk, “You’re just as bad as Emek.”

Atem laughed. “I told you.”

“Obsessive Vampire DNA kicked into high gear.”

“It’s really your fault.”

“Ah huh.” Yuugi opened the book and turned back to page 47, setting it in Atem’s lap and laying on his chest. “You need to read this or I’ll get in trouble. You’re in charge of page turning.”

“Then you’ll be lost.”

“I’ll actually gripe when you try to turn it too fast.”

\------

Yuugi was going stir crazy. He wasn’t the only one either. Joey was too. They laid on the floor in the loft area of the castle staring up at a large fan overhead. Yuugi was pretty sure he read every book in the place, explored every nook and cranny and now he was just plain bored. True to Joey’s word, he didn’t see Kaiba all week. He didn't really see Joey either. The day before that week ended Yuugi searched the whole castle for Joey but couldn't find him. When he did find him, early the next evening, he was a giddy ball of sunshine with hickies and bite marks all over his neck, thanking him for embarrassing Kaiba. All that did was embarrass  _ him _ . 

Joey groaned beside him, kicking his heel against the ground. “There’s gotta be somethin’ ta do. I’m so bored!”

“You don’t have to stay here with me. You can go wherever you want.”

“Yeah and when mom gets done with your stuff ya can come with me.”

Yuugi had no idea that was an option. He thought he couldn't leave. But Joey sounded very confident that new clothes would suddenly allow him to go wherever he wanted. It didn’t make any sense but it gave him an idea of something to do. “She should be done soon. You want to bother her?”

Joey turned to grin at him. “Sounds great!” Yuugi giggled at Joey bolting to his feet and rounding the banister. “Race ya!”

Yuugi scrambled to his feet, laughing as he raced after Joey down the stairs. Joey jumped up on the railing and slid down it. Yuugi burst into laughter when he fell off the railing and landed on his face at the bottom of the stairs. He stopped and cleared his throat in case Joey was actually hurt. “Are you alright Joey?”

Joey just pushed himself up and ran around the corner. “You’re losin’!”

“Hey! I was worried about you!” Yuugi shouted running after him. Serves him right to be nice.

He rounded the corner laughing and trying to catch up with Joey. He was doing a good job until he saw a gloved hand reach out of one of the rooms and grab joey by the shirt. The movement from him abruptly stopping like that almost swept his feet out from under him. Kaiba stepped out from a doorway, keeping Joey standing as he gripped his shirt with an annoyed scowl on his face. Grand duchess Mai walked out right beside him snickering. “When you’re right, you’re right, Kaiba. That was our idiot.”

“Hey!”

Kaiba didn’t acknowledge the exchange, glaring intently at Joey. “Is there a reason your running through the castle like a child?”

Mai looked back at Yuugi and winked at him, making him lift his shoulders. Joey and Kaiba were in their own little world and didn’t notice a thing. “Oh come on. I’m fuckin’ bored. I ain’t got nothin’ ta do.”

“He did already eat the kitchen staff, sooo,” Mai purred, getting Joey to lunge for her, but Kaiba held on to his shirt keeping him from getting her.

“I know you’re bored, pup, but we have work to do.”

“Alright alright, I’ll try ta be quiet.”

Kaiba didn’t move or let him go, but he matched Joey’s loving smile. “Try?”

“It’s all I’m sayin’.” Joey moved closer to him, grinning mischievously. “I could pester ya instead. It’s not like ya can hide anywhere.”

Kaiba quirked a brow at him and let him go. He humphed and turned to walk back into the room. Mai waved at Joey with her fingers, disappearing back into the room with Kaiba. Joey stared after them until the door closed with the same goofy grin he had when Kaiba was around and turned back to look at Yuugi. “Come on Yuug’,” then he said a little louder so Kaiba could hear him through the door, “We can’t have fun down this hallway. Someone might get jealous.”

Yuugi walked up to him and heard Mai’s laughter from behind the door. He snickered and followed Joey down the hall. “You’re incorrigible.”

Yuugi decided, especially since he got into an argument with him, that he liked Kaiba. He was rough around the edges and brilliant. He might not be the nicest or the most personable person in the world, but the way he went out of his way to be around Joey was adorable. Atem was right about him. It would be completely unnoticeable if Yuugi wasn’t constantly around Joey, and being constantly around him meant constantly being interrupted by Kaiba. It also helped that, for some reason, Yuugi wasn’t afraid of him like everyone else was. Maybe that was Joey’s fault, but everyone else, EVERYONE else was terrified of him. Well not everyone. Joey and Mai brushed him off pretty easy. He tried really hard not to be too much of a dick around Atem which was interesting. Yuugi wondered why.

They walked through the castle to the sewing room. His mom wasn’t there, but Serenity and the boy from before was. The both looked up at them. Serenity beamed, sitting on the floor across from the boy with a tiny checkers board between them. “Hey! Mom was looking for you guys.”

“She done?”

“Yep!” Serenity got up and rushed over to a garment on her mom’s sewing machine and brought it over for Yuugi. “Go try it on!”

He took it from her, smiling. “Okay.”

She pointed to a door off to the right and he walked through it. It was a bright pink powder room, probably painted that color by Serenity. It looked freshly painted. Yuugi changed inside, listening to them talking from the other room. Joey snickered, “That’s an adorable checkers board.”

“Right? Leo got it for me.”

“Leo?”

“Yeah! He’s a good friend.” There was silence for a while, then he heard Serenity again. “What’s wrong?”

Next thing he heard was the door slam shut. He thought he should dress a little faster in case that was Joey, but he heard him whisper, “What was that about?”

Serenity sighed, “He thinks Leo’s trying to… I don't know, trying to do something.”

“Get in your pants.”

“Joey!”

“What? I’m just callin’ it like I see it. He probably ain’t wrong. Us guys are slobs.” 

Yuugi snickered and shook his head trying to make sure he was putting everything on right. Then Joey started talking again. “Leo meanin’ Ruth’s kid?”

“Yep! He’s very nice. He isn’t like that.”

Joey laughed and kept laughing even when he swore he heard Serenity hit him. 

“What’s so funny?!”

“Nice? Leo? Are we talkin’ about the same guy? Oh yeah he’s tryin’ ta get in our pants.  _ Your _ not boyfriend is  _ pissed _ and ya don’t got a clue what’s goin’ on.”

“He’s not my… he is m-Ugh! Joey I hate you.”

Joey just kept laughing as Yugi walked out of the powder room. “Look at ya gettin’ two guys fightin’ over ya.” He raised his hand to high five her and, even though she was beet red and fuming, she did.

“So why are you in such a good mood?”

“Besides we can get outta here and do somethin’ fun?”

“Yeah.”

“Had a good mornin’.”

“Already regret asking.”

Joey turned his attention to Yuugi as he walked up to them. “Hey ya look great!”

“Thanks Joey.”

“Put on the cowl. I need to see if it fits okay.”

Yuugi pulled the cowl up over his hair, happy she made it with plenty of room for it. Then Serenity got up from the floor. She walked over to him and helped him lift the mask up to cover his face. “Mom’s too good at this. It fits like a glove. Speaking of gloves.”

She looked at his gloves then knelt down, surprising him, and pulled at his pants by his boots. He jumped back, but she wasn’t fazed by it at all. “Perfect. You guys have my seal of approval!”

“Don’t we need mom’s seal of approval?”

“Serenity did everything I was going to.” Yuugi looked up and saw Joey’s mom walk into the room looking concerned. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Had to split up a fight. Serenity, for the love of God, ask the boy out!”

Serenity gave her the same look she was giving joey, red and fuming, then looked away. Joey’s mom walked over to her desk and set down a bag of fabric. “Well get out of here. I know you’re both bored.”

Joey didn’t need to be told twice. He jumped up and started towards the door. In the doorway he stopped, leaning back into the room. “Hey sis?”

“Yeah?”

“Wanna come?”

“I don’t know…”

“I’m only offerin’ once.”

She looked at her mom, who nodded, and she smiled, running after Joey. Yuugi snickered following them out of the room. 

\-----

They walked out of the grocery store with a bundle of groceries in their arms. Yuugi got a million weird looks and a few questions as to why he was bundled up so much. Serenity and Joey casually brushed it off like he had a skin condition that would make him have cancer in the sun if he was in it too much and they wanted to go an a picnic. Everyone accepted that and even offered him their sympathy and admired them still going on a picnic at all. He thought it was funny, but it wasn’t too far from the truth. 

They carried the groceries to the car and put it all in back. Serenity hopped into the back seat and bounced waiting for Joey to put the top down. “Hurry up! I want to see the snow!”

“I'm workin’ on it. Damn.” 

Of all the cars in the castle’s garage, they picked the convertible. Serenity picked it to be fair, Joey just agreed wholeheartedly. They drove back up the windy highway to the mountains not far from the castle. The snow fall was beautiful, much lighter than it usually was. They found a spot on the side of the road that overlooked the valley and parked. They had to walk through the woods to the cliffside, but they could still see the car from where they decided to make up the picnic. They set up the blanket and the food and sat down on it, Yuugi leaned back on his palms, his ankles crossed looking out over the valley. It was beautiful in the sun. He missed the sun. 

“Are you gonna share those or eat them all?”

“Eat 'em all.”

Yuugi snickered at them, both fighting over a bag of chips, and shook his head. Then all at once their bickering stopped. “Joey are you okay?”

“No.” Joey scowled at the trees, getting up onto the balls of his feet and his hands. “Don’t move.”

Yuugi turned and saw three of the largest wolves he’d ever seen; their eyes black and their teeth bared. They weren’t normal wolves... They were werewolves.


	9. Chapter 9

“You just let them go!?” 

Kaiba quirked a brow at Atem. It wasn’t like Yuugi packed up his things and left in the night; he had Joey and Serenity with him. Not that he would be any less concerned about it. He just wasn’t so sure he’d let Joey’s mom know that. He equally wasn’t sure why he let her know that in the library while everyone else tried to work and he definitely wasn’t. Working on anything all but stopped when Joey’s mom folded her hands in front of her, smiling at Atem like she did Joey and said, “Atem, they are your guests not your prisoners. They can come and go as they like, _ right _ ?”

Atem huffed, turning away from her to pace in front of the fireplace, right behind his chair. “Right.”

“So you don’t need to worry. They are safe.”

That was a bit of a stretch. Yes, Joey was with them, but trouble followed him around. She had no way of promising their safety. Atem stopped pacing. “Do you know where they went?”

“No, they didn’t say. Just that they were bored to tears and wanted to do something fun.”

“So they could be anywhere?!”

Joey’s mom sighed and turned to him. “Help me out here, Seto.”

Mai threw her head back and cackled from the chase lounge across from him. Glaring wasn’t going to do him any good, but that didn’t stop him. She shook her head and cleared her throat, beaming up at Joey’s mom. “Don’t let him weigh in on this. He’s just as bad as Atem is. Last time Joey went out like this, he dragged him back.”

“That was different.”

Mai turned her attention to him and winked. “Ah huh. Keep telling yourself that.”

Joey’s mom walked out of his line of sight to talk to Atem while he continued to glare at Mai. “They’ll be back, Atem. Serenity has an appointment with Marquiness Kit in an hour and she hates being detained.”

Mai just stared back at him with a pleased smirk, tapping her foot. “Yeah and again, Kaiba will hunt Joey down and drag him back. Yuugi’s with him and that means he gets dragged back too.”

Atem didn’t respond to them or move it seemed. Joey’s mom patted Kaiba’s shoulder before walking towards the door. “Relax Atem. It’s going to be fine.”

Mai followed after her, winking at him again. She probably knew what he was going to do and he was happy she didn’t say anything to Joey’s mom about it. So he waited until the door shut to talk to Atem. “He’s coming back, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“It’s not just that. I don't know.” 

“What is it?”

“It might sound stupid, but while I was a knight, if we were ambushed or a mission went south. I could feel it. I knew it was happening. I feel like that now. I always go with my gut and right now I think something's wrong.”

He got up from his favorite chair and turned to face him. Looking him over, he quirked a brow. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear he was looking at Aknankamon, staring into the fire and fiddling with his ring. He knew what it meant and he knew to trust Atem’s premonition just like he did Aknankamon’s. He turned away from Atem and started to cross the room.

“Kaiba? Where are you going?”

“We’re going to check on them.”

“We have no idea where they are.”

“We can call them and if all else fails, the vehicles have tracking devices on them.”

“No they don’t.”

Kaiba turned his head, smirking at Atem as he left the room with him right behind him. “They didn’t, but they do now.”

He caught Atem smile at him, then looked ahead of him. They walked through the castle, making sure to avoid places Joey’s mom would be. He could hear her talking to Mai at one point, from down the hall, but that meant she was busy and they were in the clear. The garage wasn’t far and when they stepped inside, Kaiba glared at the beams of sunlight that poured through the open door on the far end. He hated going out in the day, but if this was as big of a deal as most ‘should be fine’ things were, he’d regret it. He opened up the car door and started to get in, when he noticed more then one vehicle was missing. A car and a motorcycle. “Why would they take two?”

Atem leaned forward from the passenger seat, while he put the cowl on and the mask up, then looked back at him shaking his head. “I don’t know anything, apparently.”

Kaiba hummed and climbed into the car. They drove out of the garage and down the winding highway, Atem on the edge of the passenger seat, ignoring the beeping because he didn’t have a seatbelt on. He was about to complain at him about it when he heard a gunshot. Atem snapped his attention to the front of the car and pointed. “There!”

Kaiba spotted the car and missing motorcycle in a small off the road lot for tourists to see the view of the valley. The car wasn’t out of the ordinary, but the motorcycle on its side in the middle of the lot was. What the hell was going on? He pulled up beside the convertible, rolling his eyes at the poor choice and they both got out. “Where do you think they-”

Atem was interrupted by a shrill scream. It took a second for Kaiba to recognize it; Yuugi. It didn’t take Atem that long. He bolted through the trees toward it, Kaiba right behind him, grabbing his gun out of his belt. Through the snow-covered trees he saw Joey grappling with another werewolf. He tried to aim for it, but they were all over the place. He’d probably shoot Joey and it wasn’t worth the risk. He heard another gun shot and saw Butch kneeling in front of Serenity, firing at another charging towards them; three already dead in the snow. 

Joey tossed the werewolf he was fighting with into a tree, snapping it and it fell back. Everything happened so fast he hardly had a chance to think. Atem bolted past him towards the falling tree, and he caught sight of a Lycan, standing on the edge of the cliff, unaware the tree was about to hit it. Atem charged toward it. What the hell was he doing?!

Joey howled, getting his attention and he saw the werewolf Joey threw trying to get up. He raised the gun and fired, hitting it right in the head. When he glanced back at the Cliff, he saw Atem dive off the cliff after the falling Lycan. 

“Atem!”

He ran, jumping over the falling tree to the cliff edge. He wasn’t sure how, but he could still hear Yuugi screaming in pain from over the cliff. Joey joined him at the edge, looking down at Atem holding onto the ledge with Yuugi in his arms. Atem looked up at him panicked. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Kaiba knelt down on the edge and leaned forward, reaching out to him. 

“I caught him.” 

He clearly saw that. “If you knew he was there you should’ve said something not dove off the fucking cliff!”

Atem ignored him and tried to get Yuugi to move. He didn’t, holding on to Atem’s neck with his one arm for dear life and the other hidden between them. He wondered why? Even if the Lycan had hurt him, he shouldn't be this shaken up about it. He wasn’t human.

“Yuug’ come on. Ya can’t stay there.”

He looked up, attempting to move the arm he had hidden between them and Kaiba got a good look at why he was screaming. The sun. “Stop! Don’t move! Atem don’t let his arm get in the sun.”

Atem looked down and he had a whole new wave of panic sweep over him. Then the rock he was holding on to shifted. Great. Joey put his hand on his shoulder making him look at him. “I’m gonna get him. Don’t let Atem fall.”

He shifted back into a werewolf and jumped down the cliffside, digging his claws into the rock. Serenity and Butch laid down on the cliffside and held their hands out to Atem. “Ready when you are you’re majesty.”

Atem snickered and waited until Joey took Yuugi from him, then reached up. He almost had their hands when the rock shifted and he started to fall. Kaiba lunged down and grabbed his wrist, almost losing his own footing. Atem watched the rocks fall down the cliff to the valley, then looked up at him with a frustratingly calm grin. “Feelings gone.”

“Good. Maybe that means  _ we _ won’t fall off the cliff.”

Serenity giggled and scooted over, pressing her shoulder into his as she leaned down to help him pull Atem up. Once he was up a litle higher, Butch grabbed his other hand and they managed to get him up on the edge. Joey held Yuugi, shadowing him from the sun, looking around then up at the cars. He raced through the trees to the cars and Kaiba ran after him, the others behind him. Joey opened the car door and hesitated, not sure how to get Yuugi inside without getting him in the sun. Atem slid over the hood of the car to the other side and opened the door. He climbed in and took Yuugi from Joey, pulling him into the safety of the car. Kaiba moved around Joey and got into the back with them. With doors shut he could hardly hear Butch, Serenity and Joey talking, instead Yuugi’s pained gasps seemed louder than they should have. Kaiba held his hand out to him. “I need to see how bad it is.”

He heard the other doors open and close, but he was too busy staring wide eyed at Yuugi’s arm as he held it out to him. Everywhere the sun touched was dried out and discolored, like leather. His skin curled around the edges of the cut, dried and brittle. The muscles of his arm that saw the sun almost to his bone were dark, almost black, and had the same leathery appearance. This was bad. Not as bad as it could be, but it almost went to his bone. “It grabbed me, tried to drop me off the ledge, but I… I don’t know. It just stopped. It tore my shirt.”

That’s what it looked like. It had Yuugi’s upper arm around his elbow in it’s jaws, it looked like Yuugi was gradually sliding out of his mouth; the teeth tore along his arm, shredding his skin and his sleeve. With no protection from the sun, it dried up everything it touched. The whole situation was… strange. Like the werewolf was hypnotized or something. He glanced up at Yuugi, deciding to delve into that later. There’s no coming back from sunburns, especially like this one, but if his research was right, Joey’s blood would help. “Joey give me your arm.”

Joey knelt in the passenger seat, wrapping both arms around the back of the chair and holding one out, more or less on accident. “Why?”

He grabbed his arm and bit down into his wrist.

“What the fuck ‘re ya doin’?” Joey gasped. 

He felt all their eyes on him as he let him go, pressing his thumb into the bite, making his wrist bleed and all but pour blood onto Yuugi’s arm. As soon as his blood covered his arm, dripping down the sides onto his clothes. Yuugi relaxed, frowning at it, then he looked up questioningly at him. All of them were, but he was focused on seeing if this would actually work. It apparently helped with the pain, that was more than he expected already. 

“I’m gonna be sick,” Serenity murmured, sinking into the driver’s seat. 

Butch laughed and shifted with her. “You get used to it.”

“Nope. Probably not.”

Kaiba glanced up at Joey’s wrist, his bite finally scabbed over. He brought his wrist to his mouth again and licked the dripping blood from it, getting a snicker, “Ya gonna tell me why ya did that?”

Yuugi flexed his fingers and stretching out his arm. Atem looked up and murmured, “It- it healed him.”

“It  _ helped _ heal him. I’m sure he’ll have a scar from it. It was deep. We’ll probably need to put more on it later.”

Joey leaned around the seat blocking his view. “How’d ya know that would work?”

Kaiba glanced at Joey then quickly away. “It’s my business to know about your kind.”

“This ain’t a ‘your kind’ bullshit. Ya were lookin’ for somethin’.”

Kaiba didn’t answer him. He didn’t know how and he was more than thankful everyone in the car redirected Joey’s attention away from him. “Joey. Relax. I’m fine,” Yuugi snickered, making a fist with his hand. “See? You saved my life. Thank you.”

Joey blushed and waved him off. “Nah I didn’t. Almost killed ya actually. If Atem didn’t jump the fuck off the ledge-” and in the same breath his anger redirected to Atem- “What the hell were ya thinkin’?”

“I... uh...”

“He was thinking ‘omg omg the not boyfriend’s gonna die’. You know, like the rest of us were thinking at some point in the last hour,” Serenity said, fanning herself. 

“Not boyfriend?” Yuugi asked, frowning up at Joey. 

Kaiba looked up and grinned at the deep red blush on Joey’s face. “It’s an inside joke,” he murmured.

Serenity faintly snickered. “Yeah. Welcome to the inside joke, Yuugi!” She huffed. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

Kaiba shook his head at her, then looked closer at Yuugi’s arm. “Lay down, Serenity.”

“Can’t. Joey’s ass is in the way.”

“Oh sorry.”

Kaiba brushed some of the blood off a corner of the burn to see how it was. It was healing, remarkable! The color changed back to what it should be and the stiffness of his skin was all but gone. They shuffled around up front, knocking the seat into his shoulder and he looked up briefly, sighing through his nose and looking back down at Yuugi’s arm. Yuugi watched him, then looked up at the front. “You alive up there Serenity?”

“Yep. Hanging in there. How about you?”

“Hanging in there,” He said through gritted his teeth when Kaiba pressed the corner of the burn. Still not healed enough.

“So yeah, not boyfriend inside joke. Did Joey tell you about us calling Kaiba his ‘not boyfriend’ for a year?”

“Sis…”

Kaiba stopped looking at Yuugi’s arm to frown at her. “You did what?”

“Oh yeah. Joey’s been obsessed with you since like, I dunno, you guys first met.”

“Serenity!”

“So mom and I called him the ‘not boyfriend’ ‘cause they weren’t dating but hard core crushing on each other, right Kaiba?” Now that she directed the conversation to embarrass him, he shot her a glare since he could clearly see her face between the seats, making her giggle. “So we’re a car full of not boyfriends.” Then she huffed, looking up at Butch with a wrinkled nose. “Speaking of creepy stalkerish not boyfriends, how did you know where we were?”

Joey laughed and Kaiba sat up fully, glaring at her, but she wasn’t paying attention to either of them. Instead, she mockingly glared up at Butch; who was smiling like he thought the whole thing was hilarious. “I’m an assassin. It’s my job.”

Serenity smirked at him. ”Your job. Riiiiight.”

“Let’s go. He needs to be inside not in the back of a car.” Satisfied that Yuugi’s wound was still healing, Kaiba backed up and opened up his door, getting out and moving around to Joey’s. He opened it up, gesturing for him to get out too.

“I’m goin’. I’m goin’.”

“We’ll take the other car. Atem-”

He nodded, turning to murmur to Yuugi, “You can lay back here, habibi. You don’t need to move.” Yuugi reluctantly agreed and sat up so Atem could get out. 

“Any better sis?”

“Yeah, I mean, I won’t know until I stand up.”

Joey took her hand and helped her out of the car through his door. Butch opened up his and stepped out. Serenity wavered a little but didn’t pass out or throw up. Smiling at Joey, she nodded. “I’m fine.”

Butch walked around the car and pulled on Serenity’s arm, leading her over to the motorcycle. Kaiba wanted to argue about that. She shouldn't be on the back of that thing if she was about to pass out, but Joey pushed him, grinning ear to ear. ”Come on. I’m starving,” then he said a little softer, “and ya look starvin’ too.”

He shook his head, walking to the other car. “Who’s fault is that?”

“Yours.”

\----

Kaiba left Joey passed out on the bed in their room, feeling guilty for not telling him how he knew about the burn. If he told him, he’d just think that’s why he was with him. He didn’t want him thinking that and keeping secrets never ended well. He had to tell him before he figured it out. Joey might be oblivious most of the time, but he wasn’t stupid. Walking down the hallway, he decided to check on Yuugi, especially when he saw Atem working in the library with Mai and Mokuba. His room wasn’t far and he pushed the door open, surprised to see Yuugi up with a book on his lap in the bed. He glanced up and smiled. “Hey!”

“How’s your arm?”

“Better!” He lifted it up, showing a bloody rag wrapped around it. “Is Joey alright?”

“He’s sleeping and when he wakes up, he’ll just eat everything in sight.” He crossed the room and Yuugi held his arm out, anticipating him to look at it. 

He pulled up a chair by the bed and sat down before unwrapping the bloody rag from his arm. He was almost fully healed, the gashes from the werewolf’s teeth still healing, but other then that, this was a huge success. Yuugi kept watching him as he re-wrapped his arm then sighed, making him look up. “So how did you know that would work?”

“I didn’t. Just a lucky guess.”

“A very educated lucky guess.”

He scoffed, sitting up and realizing Yuugi wasn’t going to let this go either. “I read about it.”

“Why don’t you want to talk about it? It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. It saved my arm. Everyone should know.”

“Then they’d be slaughtering Lycans all across the world for the off chance this will work again.”

Yuugi blinked. “You think this was a freak accident?’

“No, but it shouldn’t work this well. The last known time this method was used, it caused the deaths of thousands of Lycans.”

Yuugi nodded. “So why didn’t you tell Joey?”

“I did.”

“No, I mean, why don’t you tell him that you know that?”

Kaiba narrowed his eyes studying him. He just looked at him with curiosity and a little bit of amusement. He wasn’t trying to pry or thinking he was asking a personal question at all. He was just genuinely curious and that genuine curiosity resonated. “You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”

Yuugi’s smile grew. “That obvious, huh?”

“Do you know anything?”

“I know I'm in a castle and I know Atem is the King of Vampires. That’s the extent of my knowledge.”

“You know more than that.”

“I know you guys are on the edge of a war with the Lycans, but I don’t know why and I know no one wants Atem to be king for some reason. Don’t get why about that either.”

Kaiba scoffed, “Neither do I.”

“Is that weird?”

“Yes.”

Yuugi nodded.

“Why haven’t you asked Atem or Joey about this?”

“I didn’t know if I was staying.” He looked down at his arm and made a fist with his hand, releasing it. “But I’m kind of in it if I stay or not. I should know what’s going on.”

“As human media usually portrays, Vampires and Lycans don’t see eye to eye. Vampires think they are animals and, up until recently, they were.”

Yuugi looked up at him, laying his head back against the pillow stuffed behind his back. “What changed?”

“Joey,” he said simply, crossing his leg over the other and leaning back as well. “You saw him change. Lycans used to only change during a full moon.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Joey can change any time, for any period of time, at will.”

“The ones that attacked us were werewolves and it wasn’t a full moon either.”

“Yes. Well, Joey thought it would be a great idea to show others how to do what he does.”

Yuugi snickered, “Joey’s mom said that he started it.”

“He did.”

“Why?”

“That’s up for debate.”

“Question for Joey?”

“If you ask Joey, he’ll tell you he did that to help them get some of their humanity back. So they could stop themselves from hurting people and not being able to stop it. If you ask court, he did it to raise an army and wipe out our kind.”

“I’m asking you.”

Kaiba looked towards the door of the bedroom, trying to decide if he should even answer that and how. It was a simple question with a simple answer. He believed him. He did it for the same reason Kaiba helped him in the first place, but he also fully believed he did it to get him to come back and deal with him, to try and stop the war from happening, it just went too far too fast. He also believed that he didn’t want to fight a war. None of them wanted to fight a war, at least them as a whole. What race didn’t have power hungry bottom feeders mixed up in it?

“I believe he did it to help, and I also believe he knew what it would cause. He was trying to get me to come back.”

Yuugi narrowed his eyes, getting ready to ask another question, then he blinked. Leaning away from him and staring at him, then the doorway. “Ohhhh... that makes a lot of sense.”

“What does?”

“Joey told me he liked this guy who was married. It was you, wasn't it?”

Kaiba quirked a brow. “I’m sur- no I shouldn’t be.”

“Well now I have a list of questions for Joey,’ he said, sounding like he was talking to himself then he looked back over at him. “Okay. So we hate Lycans why? You said because we think they’re animals, but the books you had me read sounded more like fear.”

Kaiba smirked. “You’re right. A long time ago a Vampire used a Lycan army to take over. I know you read about that.”

“Yes I did.”

“Our kind used to rule the world, alone, now we have the help of the Humans because we lost so many to that war.”

“Yeah that didn’t make any sense at all. Can’t you just bite people and make more?”

He laughed and shook his head. “That’s not how it works. We had to rebuild everything, not just ourselves, but our power, our government, our houses. We had to fall back to come back stronger.”

“And you think you’re strong enough now?”

“They seem to think so. You just witnessed what fighting a Lycan is like. Can you imagine an  _ army _ of them?”

Yuugi searched his face then looked at the book in his lap. He chuckled and shook his head. “No. I thought I could, but no. I can’t. If Joey wasn’t there we’d all be dead. Butch didn’t have that many bullets and it didn’t seem like it stopped them, just slowed them down. I read about the war with Atem, but actually being…” He sighed, shaking his head at the book again. “It’s very different.”

“Butch is used to hunting Vampires not Lycans. He uses blessed bullets. Which I need to have corrected. You can bless silver. I don’t know why they aren’t arming themselves with that.”

“Yeah.”

“Like you said. It’s very different than how they talk about it in the books. We’re not ready for that kind of war. The humans even more so. They have no idea any of us exist. Revealing ourselves in the middle of a war like that would cause a panic across the world.”

“Yeah… Wow.”

“Now you see why this is such a big deal.”

“You don’t seem very confident in your own race.”

Kaiba scoffed. “On the contrary, Vampires should be ruling the world. We already are: we’ve rebuilt from near extinction, have our fangs set deep in the human’s governments, militaries, hospitals and schools. We’re there in the shadows watching over everything. Make no mistake, we do rule this world. I’m very confident in that. I’m also very confident that we think we can’t be stopped. We took that war and blamed the Lycans for our demise because we didn’t want to believe one of our own would do something like that, go against our laws and codes and ways. I’ve read enough about the war and dealt with enough Lycans personally to know it wasn’t their fault. And I know they aren’t something you can brush off either, as you now know too.”

“Yeah. Wow. I didn't realize it was this … big I guess. Poor Atem.” He turned away then sighed, looking back at him. “If you could handle this however you wanted, what would you do?”

Kaiba clenched his teeth together, watching Yuugi stare at him waiting for an answer. “I can’t answer that.”

“You can. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Ha! You’re the crowned prince. You are the one I shouldn’t answer that to.”

“Actually, I trust your opinion.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Probably not-” Yuugi shifted, pushing himself up to sit up better, wincing from his arm- “but you’ve impressed the crap out of me so far. And now that I know you’re the married guy Joey was talking about I know how this all started.”

Kaiba quirked a brow. “How?”

“You helped him figure out how to control it.”

“He told you that?”

“He told me you believed in him, thought he could be better, and he was trying. Now I know what he was talking about. You put your faith in my best friend and apparently got divorced or something for him.” Yuugi snickered. “And you came back for him. So yeah. I trust you. I trust you’ll do right by him and that’s the opinion I want to hear. This is heavily involving him.”

He took a deep breath and sighed through his nose. Alright. “I think we should bring back the Militas Texere Lunae.”

“You’re joking.” When he shook his head, Yuugi quirked a brow. “Didn’t see that answer coming.”

“Before, the Vampire who created that army, manipulated them and caged them. I think we should give them the same titles and honors the Humans have. The Lycans don’t want war. They don’t want to fight. They want to live their lives just like everyone else, but they’re damn good at fighting. Giving them a purpose they can be proud of and the ability to protect themselves and their families as well as the rest of the world is something I think they should be doing. Should’ve done from the beginning. They’re the best force between those unable to fight and those wanting to destroy.”

“Like the military? You want to hire them?”

“Yes.”

“You know? That's not a bad idea.”

“It’s a very bad ide, and don’t try getting anyone else to go along with it. It’s treason to even think.”

“We’re in a lot of trouble then.”

“I’m always in a lot of trouble.”

Yuugi laughed. “So is Joey. You guys are perfect for each other.”

He smiled, couldn’t stop it if he wanted to and looked away. He thought so.

Yuugi looked down at his arm and brushed his fingers over the bloody rag. “I see why you’re not a fan of the sun now.”

“You have no idea.”

“I have a good idea and you don’t need to worry.”

“About what?”

“Thinking you’re using him. We all know you’re not, especially Joey.”

He glanced back at Yuugi, regretting coming to make sure his arm was alright. He’d apparently let on too much at some point and that was strange considering he wasn’t. It was almost like Yuugi was reading into his thoughts, but that was impossible… “Yuugi?”

“Hmm?”

“Why didn't the werewolf drop you off the cliff?”

He blinked and laid his head back on the pillow gain, sighing, “I have no idea. I just looked up at it and… it stood there looking at me. I don’t...I don’t know. I don’t think it wanted to hurt me.”

“Did you talk to it?”

“No.”

“How do you know it didn’t want to hurt you?”

“I…” He looked like he was struggling with something, then shook his head closing his eyes. “I don’t know. I feel like it told me that, but it wouldn't have if my arm was in it’s mouth, huh? I don’t know.” He opened his eyes and shrugged his shoulders smiling. “I don’t really remember. My arm hurt a lot.”

He nodded. “Do you often have fuzzy memories like that?”

Yuugi sat up and frowned at him. “Yeah, now that you mention it. I just thought I had a bad memory.” He laughed nervously. “Doesn’t sound like that anymore though.”

“Get some sleep, Yuugi.”

He nodded and set the book on the other side of the bed. Kaiba got up and crossed the room stopping when Yuugi cleared his throat. “Thank you, Kaiba. For my arm and for taking care of Joey.”

He glanced back at him and nodded, then left the room. He had a lot of work to do. Fuzzy memories? The Lycan not dropping him? That sounded suspicious. Could be left over orders from Adrian. If it was that, he needed to figure out how to find them out and how to stop it. If it wasn’t, what was going on?

\---

Yuugi kept his eyes on Atem, climbing into bed beside him. He looked so sad and worried. Yuugi smiled and reached out for him to lay down on the pillow with him. “I’m fine, Atem. It’s almost fully healed up and the best part is, it doesn't hurt as bad.”

“That is good. Would you like me to get a pillow from your room?”

Yuugi narrowed his eyes playfully and smirked. “You’re just trying to steal your pillow back. I stole it fair and square.”

“Fair and square huh? You hit me with it.”

“You were doing too much of…” He gestured (with the hand that wasn’t eaten by Lycans) to Atem in a weak attempt at gesturing since he was laying on that arm. “This.”

“Too much of this? What does that mean?”

He smiled and sighed, losing all humor in it because this was very serious to him. “Too much ‘too good to be true’.”

He quirked a brow. “What have I done that would possibly indicate good in anyway?”

“You know what I mean. You’re perfect. You’re a knight. A knight from Egypt, who lays on the thick Arabic accent when you are trying to mess with me.” 

Atem snickered. 

“Let me read an amazing book that was very personal and dear to you and left it with me, and talked to me about your friend without avoiding anything. Had these clothes made for me, and to top all that off, you literally -I watched you- jumped off a cliff for me.”

“You were falling.”

“You could’ve died.”

Atem practically purred as he said in Arabic, _ “That is my job, your majesty, to protect you. I’m your knight.” _

“This. All of this,” Yuugi giggled, feeling his stomach flip from embarrassment and butterflies. “This is too good to be true. You aren’t real. I don’t believe it.”

“If I wasn't real, you’d be dead.”

“I’m still not 100% convinced that I didn’t have a mental breakdown at my job and am now living in lala land on medication I might kill someone if they take me off of.”

“If that is the case, why are you fighting it so much?”

Yuugi sighed, looking away from Atem. He told him about his friend. He needed to tell him about Adrian, but he really didn’t want to. He didn't want to upset him, didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want it to be real, but it was and he had to. “I… Did Joey tell you I used to be engaged?”

“No, he did not.”

“Yeah, I uh, I dated this guy for 6 years and he proposed to me. I found out later he never cared about me at all. He kept me around because I did what he asked me to, never questioned anything he did, and I believed everything he said to me. And all of it was a lie.”

When he looked back up at Atem, he moved back on the pillow. Atem narrowed his eyes at him, his jaw locked and his shoulders tense. This was why he didn’t want to bring it up. For a moment he was worried he was mad at Joey or him, so he scrambled to fill the silence. “Joey didn’t know we were engaged though. He just thought he was my boyfriend. I uh..”

“What’s his name?”

“Why does it matter what his name is?”

“It doesn’t. I’m sure I can find him without you telling me what his name is.”

Yuugi smiled and shook his head on the pillow. “Actually, you probably could but there's no point. He’s in prison.”

“Prison?”

Yuugi scoffed, “Yep. I pick great guys.”

“I take offence to that.”

Yuugi laughed and Atem seemed to relax a little. “I’m not meaning you. I”m meaning everyone else.”

“I'm going to need names.”

Yuugi laughed again, reaching out with his injured arm to put his hand on Atem’s cheek. “No you don’t.”

“I’ll just ask Joey.”

He snorted. “Don’t you worry. He’ll tell you and go with you.”

Atem smirked and gently put his hand over Yuugi’s. “What did he go to prison for?”

“He was doing a lot of shady stuff, most notably, human trafficking.” Atem sat up and blinked at him but Yuugi just sighed, “I don’t know how the police found out through. Someone went into my apartment while I was on vacation and took all of the records of it I collected and was going to give to the police… well that’s not entirely true. I was going to destroy it, because I'm an idiot and I wanted to protect him, I didn't think it was really him that was involved in it, but turns out I was wrong.”

Atem laid back down, studying his face and sighed through his nose. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s my own fault. I should’ve known better. I just couldn’t see it. I’m really afraid of doing that again.”

“It isn’t your fault Yuugi. Putting trust and faith in someone you love is never a bad thing. It’s their fault for breaking that trust.”

Yuugi frowned at him. “You sound like…” He blinked and tried to focus on the memory, but it kept slipping away from him. “I don't know.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I… I think someone said that to me before.”

“Then they are wise. You should listen.”

Yuugi snickered and looked at him smiling. “It still feels like my fault. I had a list of so many warning signs. I should've done something.”

“Do you have any of those with me?”

Yuugi frowned, looking at him like that was a crazy question, but he supposed it wasn't. “Aside from you being too good to be true? No.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I understand how you feel. You’re too good to be true too.”

“I'm really not. I apparently have relationship issues, zero self esteem, a reading habit, and get walked all over.”

“And I’m a touch- No we’re being honest. I’m obsessive, trigger happy, ruthless and can be heartless, as I’ve been told.”

“Now I want names. You are the complete opposite of heartless.”

“You haven’t heard my knight stories yet.”

Yuugi grinned. “I’m really excited about them now.”

“I think you should add sadistic to both of our lists.”

“Vicariously sadistic to my list, thank you very much.”

“And a messy eater.”

“And you should add stalker to yours.”

“That’s also Vampire DNA, didn’t you hear Serenity?”

Yuugi laughed. “Yeah that’s right. That means we need to take off obsessive.”

“No, I’m extra obsessive. It stays on. I’d probably give Kaiba a run for his money.” Yuugi laughed but Atem just hummed. “Anything that goes past ‘Kaiba’ levels is considered excessive beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“That’s true.” Yuugi laughed, brushing his thumb over Atem’s cheek, feeling butterflies again when he smiled back at him. “I’m… I guess I’m just afraid of getting hurt again.”

Atem looked at him, not immediately saying he’d never do that or telling him he was afraid for no reason. He was thinking it over. Then he sighed and smiled. “I understand. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have that happen to me.” He reached up and brushed his hair behind his ear. “I wish I could, but I can’t promise you won’t get hurt. I can’t promise  _ I _ won’t get hurt and neither can you. I don’t expect you to, but I can promise you, even if we do, I’ll do everything I can to make it better.” 

“And now your being incredibly romantic and I'm 100% sure you’re not real.” 

He swore he saw horns grow from Atem’s head as he grinned. “I can make it worse.”

“No you can’t.”

Atem sat up, laying over him, still holding his injured hand to his face. Smiling down at him as he pressed his forehead against his, Atem murmured to him in Arabic,  _ “I vow to you, my prince, I will fight for you for all eternity. No matter what we face.” _

Yuugi couldn't breath.

“Better?”

“You’re trying to kill me. Is it always going to be like this?”

Atem snickered and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “No. Eventually you’ll start rolling your eyes at me. Then I’ll just find something else to make you smile as you are. This is just what you have to look forward to for all eternity.”

“That sounds wonderfully horrible.”

Yuugi looked up at Atem’s euphoric smile as he murmured so earnestly, “It really does, doesn’t it?” 

He laid down on the pillow again, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Then he did something Yuugi wasn’t expecting in a million years. He rolled over, pressing his back into Yuugi and gently laid his injured arm over him, holding his hand tight against his chest. All Yuugi could do was melt around him. This used to be a fight. Or at least it was before. ‘You’re smaller, so it just makes sense.’ and his personal favorite, ‘You’re being clingy.’ Whatever the hell that one was supposed to mean. 

Yuugi frowned, burying his face into the back of Atem’s neck. With his nose against Atem’s neck he sighed and relaxed. So much more comfortable. As Atem’s breathing evened and slowed, he thought over what he’d said. Did he have any warning signs with him? Did he make him do anything he didn’t want to do? Well aside from the whole turning him into a vampire and carting him up to the mountains? No. He didn’t make him do his job, respected his decision to sleep in a different room. Even though he was obviously checking in on him and got him sleep clothes, but that wasn’t something to be put on a bad list, like Atem said, he admitted it, it was upfront, touch obsessive. He didn’t make him leave Joey, or say his books were stupid, or tell him he was an idiot for wanting to stay out of everything until he decided whether he wanted to stay or not. He said several times he could come and go as he pleased. Although, fuck that for a while. His arm hurt like hell. 

He wished they had more time, weren't on the brink of war, and mixed up in a royal engagement that was going to happen eventually. If not him, someone else. Kings and Queens and Princes and Princess got married for hundreds of years and they kept it together, respecting each other and doing what they had to do. Atem vowed to fight for him. He could live the rest of an immortal life doing the one thing he was good at to a fault; supporting him. He could help him, share his work load, not do it for him, share it. He wanted to help. He might not be able to protect him physically, not that he needed it anyway, but he could protect his heart and sanity. 

Yuugi hugged him tighter, his brows knitted together. He was staying. He was actually going to do this. That realization made him feel so much better, and it was familiar. He felt like this when he got into a good college. He felt like he was one step closer to what he wanted in life. He was one step closer to being who he wanted to be. He wanted this. How did he not realize that before? Was he really that scared? He supposed he was. 

Atem wasn’t Adrian. He didn’t need to be afraid of that anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

Yuugi was having a great dream. One of those swore he could feel, see, taste, hear, and smell everything dreams, staring the hottest guy in he’d ever met; Atem. It was probably because of Atem’s warm back pressed up against him while they slept and he hadn’t touched him since that first night. He was Atem deprived. Not his fault. 

So he was enjoying this wet dream to the fullest extent he could, licking chocolate off his shoulder blades and his neck, roaming his hands all over the taught muscles of his back and gripping his hips, lost in his delicious warmth as he made love to him. He was still killing him, moaning and gasping in Arabic, telling him not to stop and how good he felt. He was so close. Atem was so close. His hands slid on the bed as he tried to push back into him, begging him to bite him. Yuugi wanted that just as much. He bit down on the flesh of his shoulder and his neck as Atem arched his back, sending both of them over the edge together. He moaned into his neck, feeling Atem burying his fingers in his hair, holding him there as he trembled under him. 

Atem’s hand slid down from his hair, hitting the bed with a soft thud. Yuugi let go of his hips, putting both hands on the bed to keep from collapsing on top of him, a little surprised he was still dreaming, when his arm hurt. He sat up more, looking at it and lift it up. It still had the bloody rag on it. Why would he dream bout that? The pain in his arm was still there and roaming his hands over Atem again, he felt like it was too definitive to be a dream. The only thing keeping him from freaking out was how bright the room was; like someone turned a soft light on somewhere, but he didn’t know where it was coming from. He leaned forward, holding his hurting arm up, and kissed Atem on the shoulder blade, but he didn't taste chocolate like he did before. It tasted like the blood packs. So he was bleeding? What was going on?

“Atem?”

“How fast can you run to the kitchen and back?”

“What?”

“No there’s a closer one. I need you to run to Kaiba’s office. He has a drawer cooler in his desk with blood packs in it. Get it and run back. You need to hurry.”

“Are you okay?”

Atem snickered and rolled over, grinning up at him with deep blood red eyes and sharp fangs. “Absolutely perfect.”

Yuugi just stared at him having an existential crisis until Atem pushed on his chest weakly. “Hurry up, habibi. Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

“...Okay. How man-”

“As many as you can carry.”

He nodded and quickly kissed him, then climbed off the bed to grab any clothes he could get his hands on. He had no idea where his were, but Atem’s pants were right there, so those would have to do. He didn’t bother with a shirt and ran out of the room, hoping Kaiba wasn’t in his office so he didn't need to explain anything. Hell, he probably couldn’t if he wanted to. This was either a very strange dream or he wasn’t dreaming at all. Running down the hallway to Kaiba’s office, he was pretty sure it wasn’t a dream. 

The office was empty. No lights were on but he could see clear as day rounding the desk and digging up a dozen of the packs, cradling them in his arms as he ran back out and down the hall. He pushed into the room, happy the door didn't close all the way and rushed over to the bed, dropping them down beside Atem. He smiled at him and picked one up, sinking his fangs into it. He sighed blissfully through his nose and then looked back over at him. He picked another up and held it out to him. 

“What?”

He just waved the pack around. 

“I’m not hungry though.”

Atem glared at him and waved it again. 

“Fine.”

He walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down facing away from Atem, drinking the blood from the pouch and still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. After the pouch was empty, he threw it on the nightstand and sighed, leaning forward to bury his hands in his hair and rest his elbows on his knees.

“Are you alright?”

“I don’t know.”

He felt Atem shift on the bed and moved when Atem wrapped his arms around his waist, kissing his side. “When was the last time you had one of those?”

“I uh… Right after we got back, I guess.”

“How many?”

“One.”

Atem hummed and kissed his side again. “I think we’ll put a fridge in here for you. I think you go from mildly hungry to not hungry when you’re actually borderline bloodthirsty.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means,” he said, shifting again and reaching up to make Yuugi look at him, “if we don’t keep those here, you’re not allowed to leave the bedroom.”

He snickered at the suggestive smirk Atem had. “You’re not mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t… I thought I was dreaming.”

“Are you mad at me then?”

“No! I just had no idea, still have no idea, what just happened.”

Atem sat up, and smiled at him. “We have to have blood. Just like Humans have to have water. When you’re out, you become bloodthirsty.”

“And that is?”

“Different for different Vampires. Some are unable to move, others go on blood binges for anything that has blood in it and others go on crazed killing sprees.”

“Has that ever happened to you?”

“A few times, and they were bad enough that I don’t want a repeat of it. You on the other hand, we should do this more often.”

Yuugi chuckled and rest his head on Atem’s. “So what’s with the lights? Is that part of being bloodthirsty?”

“What lights?”

“I can see everything. None of the lights are on.”

Atem moved back and frowned at him. “You can see me now like we have the lamp on?”

“Yeah… That’s not normal, is it?”

He actually smiled, not in a condescending way, but as if Yuugi told him some hopeful news. “No it’s not. How are you doing that?”

“I have no idea.” He huffed looking down at the floor. “Found my pants.”

“Where?”

He leaned forward and picked them up off the floor and handed them to Atem. “You… Yuugi these are black.”

“Yeah. I told you. I see fine.”

Atem laughed, like he told him a joke. “You are full of surprises.”

“What?”

Atem kissed him and set his pants back down on the ground. He pulled Yuugi with him back onto the bed and laid down with him. Yuugi thought he was going to answer him but he just kept staring at him with a childishly delighted grin on his face. “I’m in a lot of trouble.”

“Why?”

“You’re breaking all the rules.”

“What rules?”

“You were conscious for the first 24 hours of turning, you’re pureblood but were a human, you forget to eat and even when you’re bloodthirsty, which is supposed to make you a ravenous homicidal force of the undead, you're ravenous alright, but absolutely conscious.”

“I wouldn't say conscious. I thought I was dreaming.”

“True, but you didn't hurt me.”

Yuugi gasped not considering that even a possibility. “...Is that what normally happens?”

“Yuugi, the last time I was bloodthirsty, I killed everyone in a clinic in Alexandria. Everyone and I didn’t drink a drop of their blood. I just wanted them dead. If it wasn’t for Duke literally tackling me and shoving blood down my throat, I wouldn’t have stopped. So no. That is not what normally happens.”

“Is that where the heartless part comes in?”

Atem smirked at him, shaking his head slightly on the pillow. “Would you believe that wasn’t it?”

“Now I really want to know.”

“Not as badly as I want to know how you can see.” 

Yuugi looked around the room then back at Atem, “It’s not as bright as it was.”

“So it’s fading?”

He nodded.

“Maybe it has something to do with my blood.”

“You’re bouncing that idea of the wrong person.”

Atem chuckled, “Maybe.”

Yuugi reached out and brushed his fingers over Atem’s shoulder, frowning and moved forward to wrap his arms around him. He held him tight, resting his chin over his neck. “Are you sure I didn't hurt you?”

Atem snickered and kissed his neck. “Do you remember what it felt like when I bit you?”

“No.”

“You probably think it hurt so no great loss, right?”

“Yeah. Doesn’t it?”

“Want to find out?”

Yuugi laughed. “Is this one of those ‘who knows let’s try it’ kind of things?”

“No. I want you to remember.”

Yuugi moved back looking Atem over in the fading light. “This sounds like a terrible idea.”

Atem laughed, crawling on top of him and laying down on him, making it difficult to breath, but not uncomfortable. “It is a terrible idea. You’re still wearing my pants.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Yuugi giggled, then melted into Atem’s warm kisses along his jaw down to his neck.

Yuugi reflexively tilted his head, closing his eyes and enjoying his warm kisses. He still felt a twinge of anxiety. He was going to do something at some point that wasn’t kisses, but he had no idea when or what that would be like. Atem sat up, kissing down his chest and stomach and pulling at his pants. 

“I think you just don’t want me wearing clothes.”

“It’s a reasonable thing to want.” 

Yuugi giggled, lifting himself up a little to help Atem out. He watched him pull his pants off and toss them over the side of the bed, then crawl back over him pleased with himself. Yuugi reached up and wrapped his arms around his neck, being careful with the one that still hurt and lifted his knees up so he could feel Atem all over. He started kissing him again, on the lips on his jaw on his neck and his collarbone. And right at the point that Yuugi was about to complain about him teasing him instead of doing what he said he would, he felt pressure on his neck. Not pain, just pressure and it felt really good. Really good, and that really good feeling spread from his neck through his whole body, coiling in his stomach and curling his fingers and toes. Overly sensitive to Atem’s smooth warm skin against him and his light breath against his neck and hair. 

He couldn't catch his breath, couldn’t think coherent thoughts; so good, so warm, so much, so much more and it didn’t stop. Pleasure burning through his veins making him gasp and moan, shifting against Atem, searching for that something more to push him over the edge. He wanted more of him against his skin, wanted him inside him, wanted him to touch him, wanted more. He writhed, his toes curled into the sheets and his fingers wound tight in Atem’s hair. 

Atem moaned into his neck, making him shiver, and rocked his hips into him. Feeling him pressed into him mixed with the pleasure built inside him made him tilt his head back, shouting as he came between them. Despite Atem moving away from his neck, he still felt incredibly sensitive to every moment he made against him. Atem kissed and licked down his neck and chest, licking off his cum from Yuugi’s stomach and down further to lick more off of him. He gasped and jerked away. Too much. Too sensitive.

“Glad you remember now?”

Yuugi gasped for air, staring into the darkness where he knew Atem was with heavy eyes. “Yes. Wow.”

“You have to make a conscious choice to stop the pain. It’s a different kind of bite. Could you imagine this happening when you want to eat all the time?”

He giggled, “That would be awkward.”

“Exactly. You consciously chose not to hurt me. Full of surprises.” He kissed along his hip bone and looked up at him. “You grabbed enough blood for us,” Atem purred, kissing along his inner thigh. “We could do this all day.”

He snickered weakly. “I’m pretty sure you killed me. That’s not a thing.”

Atem kissed his thigh, murmuring with his lips still against him. “Challenge accepted.”

Yuugi smiled, starting to laugh, not believing Atem at all when he felt the pressure in his thigh, pleasure shooting through his whole body. So maybe he was wrong. Atem was evil.

  
  


\-----

That evening Yuugi laid in the bathtub with Atem, staring at the stained glass window at the sunset. “They’ll be in here searching for you in a few minutes.”

“Mmmm.”

He looked down at Atem, his head laid back on Yuugi’s shoulder. Only their knees visible in the bubbles. He smiled at them. “Are you trying to sleep?”

“You’re comfortable,” Atem murmured. 

“I knew you should’ve let me lay on you.”

“That’s not as comfortable.”

Yuugi giggled, shaking his head. “I’m not arguing. I’m just saying.”

Atem hummed and turned, sloshing bubbles and water over the edge of the tub so he could lay on his side. “Maybe we can barricade the door and sleep here.”

“That’s how people drown.”

“Vampires don’t need to breathe. We’ll just be pruny.”

Yuugi laughed really hard, knocking more water out of the tub. “Then let’s just barricade the bedroom door and sleep in the bed.”

“Not a bad idea.”

“You move first.”

“And now it’s a terrible idea.”

Yuugi giggled, as Atem lifted his head up and kissed him. Yuugi wrapped his arms around him, closing his eyes and breathing in the fragrant lavender bubbles, soothed by the drips of water form lifting his arms out of the bath. Perfect end to a great day. But the door to the bedroom opened, breaking their kiss and they both stared at the door. Atem sat up and turned to Yuugi, putting his finger to his lips and sank into the bathtub, disappearing in the bubbles. He smoothed them over the spot he was and looked up when someone walked into the bathroom. 

Mokuba blinked at him then narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing?”

“...Taking a bath?”

“In Atem’s bathroom?”

“Yes.”

Mokuba nodded, looked back into the bedroom towards the bed, then back at him. He threw his hands up and shook his head. “Nope. I’m out. Yuugi, Seto wanted me to tell you, if you don’t produce a King in the throne room in 15 minutes I’m sending Joey after him.”

Yuugi giggled and nodded. “Okay. I’ll hunt him down.”

Mokuba scoffed, turning around and rolling his eyes, “Yeah sure. Nope, nope nope.”

Yuugi giggled at Mokuba, shutting the door and still saying ‘nope’ as he left the bedroom. When the bedroom door closed, he tapped Atem and stared down at the bubbles as he sat back up. Atem looked over at the door and wiped the water and bubbles from his face. “What did he say?”

“‘Nope’ a lot and you need to be in the throne room or they’re sending Joey after you.”

Atem grimaced then smiled at Yuugi. “Guess our relaxing bath is over.”

Yuugi moved over to him, reaching up with a dripping bubbly hand to bring him closer and kissed him. “That’s okay. I have another book I need to finish.”

Atem laughed and kissed him again, quickly. He grabbed the edge of the tub and stood up. Yuugi ogled him as he stepped out of the tub, water and bubbles dripping down his perfect body. He smirked at the bite marks all over Atem, proud of himself and ducked down when Atem turned back to look at him. “What are you doing?”

“Uhh…”

“You need to get out too.”

“They’re looking for you not me,” he murmured captivated by just all of Atem, a little disappointed when he wrapped the towel around his waist, but he could still see every curve and edge of his body; towel or not.

“You have a book to read.”

“Ah huh.”

“Do I need to leave the room?”

Yuugi looked up at him and shrank more into the bath. “...No.”

Atem chuckled and shook his head. “Hurry up, habibi. I’d rather not kill Joey if he comes in here and you’re not dressed.”

Yuugi grinned, leering at him still as he walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door. With him gone he decided he should probably get out. He did want to read that book and if he was lucky, he could get back into the other room before Atem got his clothes on. He climbed out of the tub, unplugging the drain and crossed the bathroom to grab a towel. Wrapping it around himself, he walked to the door and opened it. Atem was on the other side of the room, sitting on the bed and putting his boots on. He still didn’t have a shirt on so Yuugi kept her eyes on him, walking through the room to his clothes. They were by Atem anyway. “Where's your shirt?”

“I was wondering the same thing.” Atem snickered looking up at him. “That’s alright. I have more.”

Yuugi grabbed his sleep clothes (wear all the time clothes because snap they were the most comfortable and cozy clothes he'd ever worn) and got dressed. He glanced up at Atem while he buttoned the coat, digging through the nightstand. “What are you looking for?”

“This.” He picked up the string loop and smiled at him. “I’m not reading reports. We’re talking about Court. I need something to do.” Yuugi smiled and watched Atem walk around the bed over to him. He kissed him, short and sweet, lifting his chin so he was looking at him. “Make sure you eat. Alright?”

“I promise I’ll try to remember.”

“I’m going to check on you all day.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Ah huh. Eat or you’ll be stuck in here with me for the rest of your life.”

Yuugi lifted his shoulders, feeling like butterflies were trying to break out of his chest. “Was that supposed to be a threat?”

Atem grinned, taking his hand. “Ready to go?”

Yuugi nodded, squeezing his hand as they walked out of the bedroom. He thought about asking Atem if he could listen to them talking about court instead of reading. He wanted to know what was going on and help him if he could, but he also wanted a better time to tell him he wanted to stay. He should’ve told him while they were taking a bath. He’d have to think of something.

\----

Yuugi sat against a bookshelf and the wall with a Capri Sun blood pouch in his teeth, reading over the 10th book mentioning pure bloodlines and their importance while not actually saying what it was that was so damn important. The most he got was something about a Dark Emperor blessing them or something like that. He didn’t know how to feel about that. Increasingly curious and frustrated he threw the book down with the other ones that said a whole lot of nothing. Maybe this was a question for Atem or Kaiba. He picked up another book, reading over the first page and smiled. So this was about the Grandmasters separating the orders. He snuggled into his cubby in the corner and started to read, when someone walked into the room. He looked up at Mahado and took the empty pouch out of his mouth. “Hey Mahado. They’re in the throne room I think.”

Mahado smiled and nodded. “I was just there. I was actually looking for you. Atem said you’d be here.”

Yuugi set the book he had down and started to get up when Mahado raised a hand stopping him. 

“I’m here to talk to you about whether you’ve made a decision to stay or not. Atem told me he gave you the choice.”

“Yeah he did.” Yuugi watched him walk over to the chair by the fireplace and scoot it over to face him. Then sat down in it, leaning back. 

“Good. Did Atem tell you what we’re discussing in the throne room?”

“No. I told him I didn’t want to be involved until I figured out what I wanted to do.”

Mahado nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “We are discussing court, a world meeting to happen within the week in London. Court demands a decision to be made by then.”

“Oh.”

He smiled and tilted his head. “I’m not telling you that to rush you. In fact, I came here to give you a fair warning, perhaps to sway you either way if you are still unsure.”

Yuugi shifted away from the wall and frowned at him. “Like what?”

“Joey’s mother and sister have sung your praises enough to convince many of the court to support you and Atem, maybe a little too much,” he snickered, “But that aside, the opposition to a new Vampire becoming Grand Crowned Prince is… strong.”

“Oh…”

“If you decide to do this, it will be a very difficult fight-” Mahado smirked at him- “and you’ll hate every second of it.”

“Bad as all that huh?” 

He nodded. “I’ve gotten to know you fairly well over the time you’ve been here, Yuugi. I know you’re not a fan of the spotlight and this will be like standing on a stage naked in front of millions with 10 spotlights and a magnifying glass.”

“You're convincing me to run for the hills.”

“I would, if I was you. It depends on how badly you want to stay.”

“So, what if I don’t know?”

“Run for the hills.”

He snickered. “And if I want to stay?”

“Prepare for battle.”

Yuugi chewed his lip, looking down at his books. 

“Would you like my opinion?”

He looked up and smiled. “Yes. You have good opinions, Mahado.”

He raised his brows briefly. “I am the King’s adviser so I should hope so, and as such I’d like to advise you, but honestly, between you and me, the state of our kingdom and this world is teetering on a blade so sharp it will leave scars no matter if war or peace becomes of it. I can also tell you, if you do decide to leave, Atem will most likely go with you.”

“He’s the King. He can’t do that.”

“He’s going to try.”

Yuugi smiled, it wasn’t a topic to be smiling about, but he couldn't help it. “Yeah, he probably is.”

“So for him, you staying is better, but after court, they could decide you aren’t a worthy Prince and give him an ultimatum to marry another.”

Yuugi blinked, eyes wide. “I didn’t know what was an option.”

“Neither does Atem. I didn’t want to bring it up. He has too much on his plate already.”

“So what if that happens?”

“If that happens, I can see several outcomes. He could try to leave with you, or he’ll ask you to stay and marry whoever it is they chose. You could also leave before hand.”

“What happens if he leaves with me?”

“That is an interesting question and one I’ve given a lot of thought.” Yuugi was a little surprised by that and watched him with curiosity as he shifted, looking down at Yuugi’s stacks of books. “If Atem chooses to leave, he’ll be rogue and you will be labeled as such too. Rogues are typically left alone. They do their own thing, cause trouble for the nobles but other than that, are what they are. But a pureblood cannot be rogue. They are too powerful, hold too much pull from his most unholy and cannot be allowed to exist outside of our government. If he left with you, you’d both be hunted until captured; and I can assure you, you will be captured. It may take years, but it will happen. Because he’d denounce his right as King, and you allowed that to happen, you’d both be tried for treason, sentenced to undeath in the sun and defanged. It’s an existence of agony and repulsion.” Mahado took a deep breath and frowned at him. “It is not a fate I want for either of you.”

Yuugi let out a ragged breath. “I hate all of those options.”

Mahado nodded gravely. “They are horrible options.”

“So all I can do is hope they accept me or leave and spare Atem that.”

“As I said, he’ll leave with you if you leave. That option  _ will _ happen. You can do whatever you like, but I know Atem and you do to. What do you think he’d do if you decided to leave right now?”

He sighed and smiled. “He’d tell me he’d respect my decision.” Then he playfully groaned. “And I’d see him probably a month later again, trying to either get me to come back or stay with me because it’s part of Vampire DNA to be obsessive stalkers.”

Mahado laughed. “I see you’ve talked to Serenity. She’s not wrong in her opinion though.”

“So…” Yuugi felt his shoulders droop from the weight of not just his decision, but what would happen to Atem. “We’re stuck? No matter what I decide to do, it will be horrible for Atem.”

He smiled like that was exactly what he wanted to hear. “You’d already decided to stay, haven’t you?”

Yuugi looked up at him still keeping his head down. 

He leaned forward, sitting on the edge of the chair. “Has what I’d said changed that decision?”

“Changed it? No, but now I'm freaking out about Atem.”

He snickered and got up from the chair, kneeling in front of Yuugi. “Then I suggest you come up with a good battle plan.”

“I’m not good at that.”

“You don’t need to be. You have the backing of the strongest house in court, as well as half of the court under Karen’s thimble. Atem will not let you go. When they back you, court will split. I’ve been waiting for that to happen for centuries. If court splits, we’ll be at civil war.”

“I don’t want civil war!”

“I do, Atem does, and you do too. If we are at civil war we’ll be too weak to attack the Lycans. My king, Aknankoman, and I believed in them and their desire not to go to war and we saw what Kaiba was trying to do whether he wanted to admit it or not. He and Joey gave the Lycans the power to fight this war and we can use that. They know we’re fighting for them because of Kaiba. Atem will not only have the strongest house on his side, but half of the court on the side of the Lycans and the Lycans themselves who are the strongest force on this planet, and more than half of the Grandmasters at his disposal. He’ll be the King he needs to be. That’s what I want you to do. Make sure he’s the King he needs to be.”

“I thought we were trying to avoid a world war.”

Mahado grinned at him, for the first time giving Yuugi the impression he was a Vampire instead of a polite and knowledgeable quiet man assisting Atem. “We are rebuilt it’s time to get OUR bite back. Sometimes you have to knock things down to build. As Aknankamon used to put it, weeding out the snakes. He couldn’t do that after the war. We were at peace. He had the support of the entire court. He had to listen to the opposition, forced to continue his role as a peacekeeper. It’s why he wanted Atem to be King. Atem knows more about how to unite this world than any other. He was a Grandmaster who lived through the split and the absence of our most unholy.”

“I… Mahado that sounds crazy.”

“What’s crazy is Akankamon, Kaiba and I believe something is coming that’s far worse than Vampires declaring war on the Lycans or even civil war. Atem needs a strong foundation to face it.”

“I-”

“Has Atem told you about how he was as a Knight? How his Order was terrified of him?”

“No, I mean, sort of.”

“Don’t tell Atem you’re staying yet. I want you to stop reading these books,” he sighed, staring at them, “I never thought I'd ever tell anyone that in all my life.” He laughed and put his hand on Yuugi’s shoulder. “I want you to see what kind of man Atem really is because he’s not at all who he is now.”

Yuugi didn’t know how to feel about that at all. “What do you mean?”

“Vampires are unholy creatures, children of our Dark Emperor sent to the world to end it’s suffering. We are ruthless, destructive, deadly and powerful.  _ All of us _ . We have no care for life and honor death in all its forms. Is that who you think he is?”

Yuugi just blinked at him.

“He was a Grandmaster Yuugi. He fought in our wars. He’s killed so many people. He lost his father and was put into a situation that he is unsure of how to proceed. When he releases all of what’s holding him back, all of this will change. I know you’re still holding on to your humanity. I don’t want you to do all of this and find you’re the right hand of the dark.”

“I uh…” Yuugi shook his head trying to snap out of it. “I.. I know. I read… I know.”

“Reading and seeing are two different things sometimes.”

“I know that too.”

“I know you can do this. I wouldn’t be telling you any of this if I didn’t. I just want you to see the whole picture. You’re already a Grand Crowned Prince in my eyes, Yuugi. You came to this castle, dove head first into our history, into our theories, asked questions, kept pressing and pressing and I know you're really close to questions none of us have the answers for and you’ll find them. Atem went from passively agreeing to reports to searching them like you are these books. You’ve already done so much more than I expected, form a chance in counter or from any noble in court. I heard about your argument with Kaiba.”

Yuugi blinked wide eyed. “I wasn’t… It was a misunderstanding.”

“And you found that out because you didn’t leave. I want you to do that. Force our kind into a corner. They’ll make their clams and make their accusations and you’ll peel back all of their masks until they reveal who they are and where they stand. You can do that. If you could with Kaiba, this will be a piece of cake.”

“You have an awful lot of faith in me,” Yuugi murmured, frowning at him.

He smiled again. “I found out why you’re a pureblood.”

He blinked. “You did?”

“Yes. During the rule of Aleric, his daughter fell in love with a Human. She had a child and became the disgrace of his bloodline, successfully ending it. But the child was half Vampire half Human. Aleric went through great lengths after turning his daughter into a ghoul for her crime against our Dark Emperor to find him. He tried for centuries to wipe out your blood line and thought he succeeded. You have his blood in you. When Atem changed you into one of us, it woke it up. Yuugi, you are a very powerful Vampire of the purest of bloodlines and you have the heart of a Human.”

“What’s so important about bloodlines? What’s it mean to be pureblood? I’ve looked through all these books but-”

“All your answers are in London.” He looked at Yuugi smiling. “So where does this lead us?”

Yuugi looked at him then down at his lap. Books of Vampire history surrounding him, the clothes Atem had made for him still making him warm every time he wore them and his arm still healing from the Lycan that attacked him putting him in the sun. He didn’t just have to decide to be with Atem and be his Prince, like he thought. He had to decide to be with a Vampire Knight King and be his Vampire Prince and all that’s wrapped up in that; mostly blood. 

He looked back up at Mahado, and took a deep breath, sighing through his nose and frowning at him. “Okay. Okay Mahado. What do I need to do? Atem’s busy I can’t just wait around for him to tell me about him being a Knight.”

Mahado shot up, grinning like a madman. “Come with me. We have a lot to do.” Yuugi got up and followed Mahado to the door of the library, then he stopped, turning to him. “Do not tell Atem about this.”

“Mahado I really don’t like keeping secrets, especially from someone I'm doing all this for. It feels wrong.”

“I don’t want you to keep it a secret forever, just not yet. You’ll see why soon. Trust me.”

Yuugi reluctantly nodded, following Mahado out of the library. “Where are we going?”

“I have less than a week to teach you the ways of court, the names of our allies in court and how to be a Vampire because as much as I love the idea of quick snacks, those blood packs are tasteless. Not to mention this castle is the worst place to learn to be a Vampire. It’s like a crib for an infant. Being one of our kind is dangerous and you must be alert at all times, especially as a Crowned Prince. You have a lot to learn and very little time to learn it in.”


	11. Chapter 11

Yuugi walked back to Atem’s room feeling like he did the morning after his birthday; like a mac truck hit him, ran him over, backed up and now he felt like it was parked right on top of him where the driver used him as a step to get out. He pushed open Atem’s door and saw him sitting up straight with the string in his hands. He hadn’t changed clothes or taken his shoes off yet, sitting on the beautifully made bed like he’d just got there. But the wrinkles in the duvet near his pillow where he sat and the shocked/worried aura emanating from him even to the doorway, lead him to believe he was there a long time waiting. He didn’t mean to worry him. “Yuugi! Are you alright? I couldn't find you anywhere. Did you eat?”

He weakly chuckled and walked into the room, closing the door behind him. “Yes I ate, and Mahado found me first.”

Atem tilted his head, confused at first then he grinned like he won at life. “He did, huh?”

“Yes and I'm positive he’s an evil lunatic with delusions of grandeur.” Atem snickered as Yuugi fell onto the bed beside him, groaning, “Put me out of my misery.”

“I promise to let you sleep today, habibi. If it makes you feel any better.”

“Actually worse,” Yuugi murmured, turning his head to look up at him. “You owe me a bath too.”

Atem put the string in the drawer of the nightstand and slid down the bed to lay beside him. “We’ll take a bath in the evening if you’d like.”

“I can’t wait.”

Atem’s pleased grin filled him with warmth as he shifted on the bed, scooting close enough to press his forehead to Yuugi’s. “Neither can I.”

He couldn’t help but smile, watching Atem tangle himself as close to him as possible while minding his injured arm. He slipped a hand under the coat to rest on his hip and wedged his knee between Yuugi’s thighs; tangling around his leg. He sighed, content and closed his eyes, but Yuugi didn’t. He kept looking him over, then down between them at his injured arm. No matter how much he tried to envision Atem like Mahado described, he just couldn’t see it. Sure, he was a knight and sure, he did jump off a cliff for him without batting an eye, but he wasn’t merciless, cruel or… heartless. He couldn’t see it anymore now, laying beside him tangled up and warm, than he could when he said it weeks before. Atem was sweet, passionate, empathetic and patient. He had lists of things he did to show that and zero examples to what they claimed. 

What stuck with him, and kept his mind winding around it, was that they had no reason to lie to him. It must have some truth to it, but what that truth was, he didn’t know. Mahado said the castle was like a protected crib and claimed life outside of it for Vampires was very different. And part of him wondered that too from what he’d read and from the stories Joey told him about meeting Kaiba. He felt like he was missing something all night, learning how to  _ survive _ , like stepping outside the castle walls would bring danger around every corner. At least he impressed Mahado with his knowledge of getting out of scrappy fights and doing some decent damage with hand to hand because of Joey. So that part wasn’t so bad. He assumed that would’ve been all of it though. He was wrong. He picked up a gun for the first time in his life that night, marveling and fearing the very idea he’d ever need to use it. War, as a concept, was one thing (one thing to read, one thing to grasp), but he couldn’t fathom Atem’s part in it or even his part in it. Talking to Kaiba, he realized how ‘big’ the war could be, but talking to Mahado, he realized how close to home the war could be. 

He was so tired, but he realized, reaching up to brush his fingers over Atem’s cheek, that he had to have something connecting where they were to where they were going. “Atem?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did someone call you heartless? What happened?”

He moved back, putting his arm under his head to look him over. He appeared to be thinking something over then sighed through his nose and Yuugi could feel him gently squeeze his hip. “Are you sure you’re not too tired? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I’m almost dead,” he giggled, then let out a deep sigh, “but I’d like to know.”

He nodded, looking down towards the bedroom door almost disappointed. “Well… it’s a long story.”

“Riveting already. I’m going to be awake for years.”

Atem wrinkled his nose and pushed him gently making him laugh, then muttered in Arabic,  _ “Keep it up.” _

Yuugi smiled and rest his forehead against Atem. “Okay, okay. I’ll be quiet.”

He hummed mockingly, but didn’t say anything else. Yuugi thought he’d have to start the conversation back up again but Atem took a short breath and continued, “I became Grandmaster after Grandmaster Devrim died fighting a group of rogues in Cairo. Before I even heard his wishes for me to take his place, I had several of the others tell me, if I took his place, they would refuse to follow my orders and after it was announced I was to take his place, almost half my Order sent requests to be transferred out.”

“Wow… Why?”

He sighed, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. Looking him over, Yuugi thought it curious that he had to think about it. Shouldn’t he know by now? It sounded like he was Grandmaster for a while. Atem licked his lips and answered carefully, still thinking about it. “I think many of them were concerned that if I was placed into a position of power like that, I’d change.” Atem faced him, still laying on his back, and smirked. “My mother is a prominent and ambitious Marquiness. Although she rules over Alexandria, her influence is felt all across Egypt and, unfortunately, never in a good way. So, it was a fair concern, but still… disheartening. I worked really hard to prove myself in the Order and Grandmaster Devrim saw that. Though I’m not sure how. It was almost impossible to impress him. Well, I told you about Sir Bril. She’s a pretty high bar.”

Yuugi giggled. 

“Before I became Grandmaster, my father came to Cairo with Marquiness Lilly. She wanted to hunt down the ones responsible for his death; to honor him, since no one else seemed to care either way that he was dead, and she held a great amount of respect for him. So did my father.”

Yuugi smiled, listening to this story and wondering when it would get crazy because so far it sounded like it could go a million different ways. 

“Since the Order hadn’t promoted me yet, I helped my father and Lilly track them down. I felt it was the least I could do for him. I have a great deal of respect for Grandmaster Devrim as well. While we were trying to find the rogues, we kept running into this Human.” He groaned and rolled onto his side, facing him and entangling their legs again. “He was  _ everywhere _ . We kept trying to tell him to leave, for his safety, but he would not.  _ He _ ended up finding the rogues for us and lead us right to them. He was the most stubborn, enthusiastic and big-hearted Human I’d ever met.” Atem grinned as he looked him over and put his hand under his coat on his hip again. “You remind me of him a lot.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

Atem smiled at him, full of sad reminiscence and Yuugi felt a little guilty for asking about this. He didn’t realize it had anything to do with his dad and that was a touchy subject with him. This whole story so far sounded like a touchy subject if it was him. He totally got how Atem had to feel getting the best promotion ever and having literally everyone who should be, at the very least, indifferent about it, knock him down. He’d been there. He knew. He fought the urge to hug him or kiss him to make him feel better as Atem looked him over and squeezed his hip. “We told him we were with Cairo’s police department and did in fact work with a few of the Humans there to track the rogues. After we weeded out the rogues on the outskirts of the city, we camped on our way back. While my father and Lilly slept, I told him about my Order’s requests out and refusal to follow my orders, but under the guise of being police. He gave me the craziest off the wall suggestion; horrible for a Human, but perfect for me. It’s the single best advice I'd ever received and it worked so well, my father used it for court.”

“Really? That’s pretty cool.” Yuugi smiled at Atem’s attempt at hiding his pride. “So what’d he say to do ‘cause this sounds like a pretty impossible situation to deal with.”

“It felt like it. I probably should’ve asked my father or Lilly for advice instead of a human with no understanding of what was happening, but I knew he’d give me his honest opinion and since I’d only just met him and probably would never see him again, it didn’t matter what he thought of it or me. I figured it was the safest place to, if nothing else, get it off my chest.”

“Not a bad plan and it worked out, right?”

“It did.” Atem narrowed his eyes and started to say something then stopped. “I haven’t shown you Raven, have I?”

“Who?”

Atem snickered and shook his head. “Not who. What.”

He sat up in bed and reached into his boot, pulling out the most beautiful pistol he’d ever seen. It reminded him of the pistols that pirates used in old sailor movies. Bright polished steel barrel and a hand carved wooden handle that continued under the barrel. The design etched into it screamed everything beautiful about Egypt; hieroglyphs, reeds, the river and so much more. It was beautiful. Atem kept his reminiscent smile, looking the pistol over as he leaned his elbow on his raised knee. “My father had her made for me the year I was born. I take very good care of her, but she’s a 1400’s flintlock pistol. At best, she’s just pretty. She fires when she wants at what she wants. He was fascinated with it while we traveled, but when I told him what was happening, he told me to threaten them with her and, if they still refused to obey my orders... shoot them.”

Yuugi blinked and propped himself up on his elbow to get a better look at his face and make sure he was being serious because he couldn’t possibly be serious. “He told you to shoot them?!”

“He said flintlocks have a 1 in 10 chance of firing. Raven had even worse odds. If she fired, they'd have a bullet in the foot, if she didn't, it would get them to realize I’m in charge, not them. It was more for show.”

Yuugi laid back down, trying to figure out why someone would even suggest that. It sounded crazy! It had to be a joke, but it sounded like Atem actually did it. “Hold on… you actually shot them?! You walked in there and started shooting everyone?”

“Not exactly. My first day as Grandmaster I pulled all the Seneschals and Marshalls into the room, locked the door, and had a nice long talk with all of them.”

Nice long talk his ass. “You shot them!”

Atem looked him straight in the eye, painfully serious and maybe even a little bitter about it. “I not only shot them, but I shot them with blessed bullets so it hurt like hell and I wasn’t aiming for a foot. If she fired, it could kill them.” Yuugi blinked, a little surprised by his tone, but Atem just sighed. “If they’re not with you, they’re against you and I couldn't afford to have hesitation in my Order. It wouldn’t just cost their lives, but the lives of the other Knights in their charge. They had to respect my orders and trust I’d act on their behalf. I didn’t stop with the Seneschals and Marshals either. I went through my entire Order until I was confident I got my point across.”

“So that’s why you were called heartless?”

Atem winced. “Not quite. I didn’t  _ just  _ use Raven. Although she is perfect for the game, I had to make sure they’d actually play by the rules. I brought a more reliable gun with me as well. Each meeting I held had a company of Knights and I made sure to say really loud, and sometimes a few times just to make sure everyone heard me: ‘Don’t move and don’t talk unless I ask you a question. If everyone follows those two rules everyone walks out, a little worse for wear, but alive. There are  _ zero _ exceptions’. They didn’t listen until someone died. Every. Single. Meeting. It was ridiculous.”

“Wow…”

“I lost 76 men solely because of not listening. We’re knights. We follow orders,” Atem sighed, but a proud smile pulled at his lips when he continued, “But, I will say, after that, my Order rivaled Grandmaster Vera’s. After they realized I knew what I was doing and stopped trying to fight me every step of the way, they were really proud of themselves and all the things we accomplished as an Order; as a whole. We were called on all across the world to help settle disputes or deal with anything that the others couldn't handle because of that. I hope Duke didn’t mess that up.”

“I can’t believe you just shot everyone.”

“I didn’t shoot everyone. Like I said, Raven only worked every sometimes 20 times I pulled the trigger, and I only did it once. If I wasn’t going to follow my own rules, what was the point?”

Now he had a really good idea of how his other Knight stories were going to be and the kind of King, Mahado thought he was. Honestly? He should be upset. Atem shot people who were trying to help. He killed people who were trying to voice their opinions and/or concerns, but he got it. They weren’t Human. They were Vampires. They weren’t families in a small village somewhere with a dictator they didn’t know on a personal level walking into town waving guns around, they were Knights working with the same people for hundreds of years and fighting in unnamed battles depending on each other to have their back. So he understood why he did it.

The more he mulled it over and watched Atem smile at the flintlock before putting it back in his boot, the more he thought it was brilliant. He gave them all an order, one like he would as a Grandmaster, and he waited to see if they’d follow it. If they didn’t, did they need to be in the Order in the first place? After reading the books on Vampire history, he had to admit, although sadistic and off the wall, he couldn't say it was unnecessary. Vampires take. They push and pull at weak points, ready to dive fangs first into them. They thought Atem was a weak point and he just shot them all in the face with a ‘fuck you no I’m not’ (literally) and damn if that wasn’t incredibly sexy.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

Atem narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you sure you ate?”

“Yes why?”

“Because you’re looking at me like you do when you’re hungry.”

Yuugi laughed, climbing on top of him. “I was trying to be sneaky and get you to tell me one of your Knight stories not in Arabic so I’d get some sleep, but you messed that up for me.”

\---

Kaiba sat at his desk, cutting into his book with an Exacto knife. He’d worked on this since speaking with Yuugi after the attack and he was almost done. Just needed to trim off a few spots. It should’ve taken an hour at the most, but he kept being interrupted. A month to do an hour task was outrageous considering, but it was almost done. Part of him wished he still had another month to work on it. If the meeting in London was pushed off due to idiocy again, he just might. He still couldn’t believe Atem took that as well as he did. Court told him they weren’t going and he looked at it as if they’d given him an extension. Extension on what, he had no idea, but that’s how he seemed to take it. Whether Atem wanted to wait or not didn’t matter, in Kaiba’s opinion. This was turning into the old saying of ‘give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’. 

A knock on the door, made him look up and he panicked for a brief moment when it opened. Mokuba popped into the room and shut the door smiling at him. “Hey what are you-”

“Lock the door.”

He blinked then locked the door. “So now what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m hollowing out this book.”

“Hiding something cool?”

He looked up and smirked. “I don’t know if ‘cool’ is the right word for it.”

Mokuba gave him a weird look and walked over to the desk. “Isn’t that your research book?”

“One of them, yes.”

“Which one?”

“The one summarizing what I found about preventing sunburns.”

“Oh… So, why are you cutting it up?” 

He started to answer, but one of the sides kept giving him trouble and he thought he’d fix it before doing that. Apparently, he was taking too long. Mokuba leaned over the desk and started moving things around. He stopped, glaring at him. “What are you doing?”

“Getting my-” Mokuba picked up the small velvet box he had stuffed under his papers, and Kaiba’s hands too full to stop him- “answer.”

They just stared at each other for a minute then Mokuba doubled over in fits of giggles. Kaiba scowled, snatching the box out of his hands. “That’s not helping.”

“So,” He giggled, trying to stop but it wasn’t working. “So you’re what? Going to propose to him using that?” 

He ignored him, deciding that was obvious and didn't deserve an answer.

Mokuba laughed and shook his head, settling his gaze on the hollowed out book in Kaiba’s hands. He gestured to it, beaming ear to ear. “Finally decided he needs to know about it and thought this was the best way to do it so Joey doesn’t think you hate him?”

He wasn’t going to answer that either and returned to hollowing out the book, muttering, “and I want to.”

Something about Mokuba’s movements changed or caught his eye and he looked up. His teasing grin was gone, plopping into the chair across from his desk. He sighed wistfully and leaned over his desk to rest his chin on his hands, staring with his stupid smile directly at him. “You two are adorable! I can’t wait to tell Mai.”

“Don’t breathe a word.”

“Oh come on! I gotta celebrate with someone... Oh! How about Yuugi?”

Kaiba scoffed, going back to evening out the lines on the book. “I’m sure he already knows.”

Like he gave him permission, Mokuba bolted up out of the chair and raced out of the room. That’s not what he meant at all. Putting the box in the book and closing it, he walked over to his bookshelf with his other research books. At least immorality proved to be a fun project in the end. He was pretty sure he knew how to cure the rare disease Vampires can contract because of it, but he ended that project shortly after talking to Yuugi. Now he was on to something else, something he had hidden away in his office so no one would find it. Yuugi asked him what he thought they should do and after talking to him about it, he decided to get a head start on it. He had 13 books finished on that and had a good idea of how to handle the army of Militas Texere Lunae, as well as it’s commander. He unlocked the compartment,put the book inside on the top and closed it, glancing at the doorway as he locked it back up. Not that Mokuba wasn't going to spoil everything anyway, but it was better safe than sorry.

He sighed, moving around his desk to go after Mokuba. If he was lucky, Joey was already with Yuugi so Mokuba couldn't say anything before he got there.

\---

Yuugi frowned at the waning moon from the courtyard swing. Atem asked him to wait there. He assumed he was bringing him another one of the Capri Sun blood pouches for breakfast, but if that was the case, he was taking a very long time to do it. He sighed, frowning down at his feet. Now he was nervous, more so than the fact they were leaving for London soon, and still felt like he only retained maybe half of what Mahado was trying to teach him. He was still a poor shot with a gun, didn’t remember most of the courts names, and couldn’t think of a good angle to work if they tried to dissuade him from staying. He was really worried he’d lose his resolve and give in. After all, it’s happened before.

_ “I’m surprised you’re here. I wasn’t expecting to see you until the meeting in London.” _

He looked up and blinked. Atem walked through the courtyard, his arm linked with a woman wearing a long black veil that trailed behind her on the snow. Despite it being black, he could see the face of a woman that didn’t look too much older than himself, smiling back at Atem, answering him in Arabic as well, _ “Not as surprised as I was when I found out you’ve already chosen a Grand Crowned Prince, my son. I’ve heard quite the rumors of him already and I’m eager to see if they are true.” _

That caught Yuugi’s attention. Now he had a very real and very big reason to be nervous. That… was Atem’s mom. Atem winced, looking down. _ “I wanted to tell you earlier, but he’s not made his decision yet.” _

_ “Decision?” _

_ “On whether to stay. I’m glad you want to meet him.” _

Atem’s mom looked down at the ground, the veil hiding her features so he couldn't tell what she was thinking then she said something to Atem in what he thought sounded like Ancient Egyptian, but she said it way too fast for him to pick up on it. She said it so fluently, as if she were from a time when it was used every day by everyone. He stared at her in wonder. Was she alive then? Did she know the answers to questions scholars have debated for years? Now he was nervous and excited and incredibly conflicted about whether to run screaming or jump into all of those questions. Probably run.

They walked up to him and Atem turned his attention fully on him. Yuugi stood up from the swing and smiled. He started to say something, but Atem held his hand out for him. “Yuugi, I’d like you to meet my mother Nefret, Marquiness of Alexandria.”

Atem turned towards his mom and smiled. It was so sweet to see, Yuugi was a little taken aback. She bowed elegantly and then rose. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Grand Crowned Prince.” 

Yuugi felt like a fish out of water, awkwardly waving at her. “Uh hi.”

She turned to Atem and tilted her head. _ “He’s cute.” _

_ “You should see how he eats.” _

They both chuckled at Yuugi’s expense and he thought he was going to die of embarrassment. Nefret moved away from Atem to take a step towards him. He stiffened, but kept his smile as she leaned forward examining him like a bug under a microscope. Then she lifted her veil. All Yuugi could do was stare at her. She had jet black hair that cascaded over her shoulders and blood red eyes just like Atem’s. Even her lips were deep red. Seeing her up close, she looked younger than him. How old was she really though? 

“How are you faring in the castle, your majesty? It was quite the adjustment, I’m sure.”

“It was. I’m getting used to it though. Now it’s starting to feel like home.” He smiled back at Atem, then her. “Thank you for asking.”

She smiled and nodded slightly. “That is wonderful news.” She paused, looking him over again. “I heard a rumor that you are in fact Pureblood as my son is.”

Yuugi had no idea what to say, but Atem was eagerly waiting on that question. “He is. We’re still not sure how or why just yet, but he is.” He smiled at Yuugi, proud and loving like he always did and he felt himself smile back.

“May I see? If that is alright with you, your majesty.”

“Oh uh. Yeah sure.” He really didn’t want to though. 

Mai made a comment about ‘baby teeth’ when he showed her. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Atem’s mom, but it wasn’t like he could say no. Well maybe he could, but it would be rude… right? So he kept his eyes on Atem and opened his mouth. His teeth ached and he felt like he did something right when she quirked a brow, her red lips thinned into a straight line. “Pureblood indeed. The court will be quite curious about that. Have you discovered your bloodline?”

Yuugi didn’t know what to say. Mahado told him not to tell anyone. Atem took a step closer to Yuugi, smiling proudly. “We’re not sure he has one. He could just be full of surprises.”

She nodded, but Yuugi could see in her eyes how unhappy with that she was. Atem wasn’t paying attention to it. “Possibly.” Then she said flat and snide, “And the war? Do you have any idea of the stances of court on it?”

He didn’t know the answer to that question either. It seemed obvious. Some were for it, some were against it, but that didn’t feel like what she was asking. She was asking for the ‘whys’ on both sides, possibly more than just both. He only knew the obvious, so he answered with that, but was pretty sure she wouldn’t like it. “They’re split. Some want war so the Lycans don’t get enough power to attack them and the other wants them to have their freedom.”

“And your stance?”

“My best friend is one of them. I’m on their side.” He knew after he said it and the look on her face that Mahado expressly told him NOT to use that example. What did he do? He used it first. But he wanted to be honest with her. She was Atem’s mom. “I have other reasons,” he quickly added, “I rea-”

She took a step back and turned to Atem, ignoring him. Yuugi felt like someone slapped him across the face when she said,  _ “and to think I was concerned you’d pick someone just as at odds with the court as Lord Kaiba, but no. You picked someone WORSE.” _

“Mother…”

_ “I stopped being your mother when you joined the Order, remember? Do you have any idea what’s at steak here? We are on the verge of war! It breaks my heart to hear rumors of your lack of leadership but now I see they aren’t just rumors.” _ She turned away from him to walk back to the castle.  _ “How could Mahado allow this to happen?” _

Atem recovered from the same shock Yuugi felt and bolted in front of her blocking her path. _ “Mahado trusts in my judgement and so should you.” _

_ “How can I do that? You might as well have brought a Lycan here. He obviously has no understanding of anything. You needed someone with more than just fangs, Atem.” _

_ “You haven’t given him a chance.” _

_ “I’ve seen what I need to. They’ll devour him in court. He’s exactly what they did not want.” _

_ “I don’t give a damn what they want.” _

_ “You will when they refuse to allow him to be crowned.” _

_ “They can’t do that.” _

_ “Yes they can and yes they will and thank his most unholy for that! You’re not going to London to show them the new Crowned Prince to stop the threat of war, you’re going to London to convince them you made a decision worthy of a King, and after that,”  _ she said pointing to Yuugi,  _ ”there’s no way they’d allow someone like that, someone with no understanding, no power, and obviously manipulated by Kaiba’s house to take the throne with you.” _

_ “This is not their decision. I’m the King, it’s mine.” _

_ “Yes, Atem, you are the King, and it’s high time you started acting like it. You can’t expect everyone to save you from your incompetent decisions forever.” _ She shot around him, stomping through the snow towards the castle and slammed the door behind her leaving Atem and Yuugi outside staring after her.

Yuugi took a deep breath. 

All things considered, that was exactly as awful as he figured court would be, and now he got a good practice round in before they left. He could do better next time and he could convince her too. He was sure of that. Looking away from the closed door towards Atem he felt horrible. He knew Atem had to be incredibly upset by all of that. He would be if he wasn’t expecting it. 

“I’m sorry Atem.” He murmured and reached for his hand, but Atem stormed after her before he could reach him. “Atem?”

He didn’t stop or slow down and Yuugi had to run after him to catch him. Atem grabbed the handle on the door and yanked it with so much force the door’s hinges snapped and the doorknob broke off in his hand. He growled in frustration, throwing the doorknob across the courtyard, lodging it into the stone. Yuugi just stared at the crater in the stone, then looked back at Atem as he took a step back to kick the door in. Yuugi jumped when the door flew off into the wall across from them scaring one of the servants and she screamed. 

Not that Atem cared or maybe even heard, he just rounded the doorway into the castle making a beeline for somewhere and Yuugi helplessly scrambled after him. He paused once inside the castle and offered a friendly concerned smile to the servant. “Are you okay?”

She blinked at him and nodded, still shocked and panting.

“He’s sorry about that... ” 

He turned and saw Atem turn another corner and gasped. He had to run to catch up to him or he’d never find him. He kept running, but Atem was further and further away until he just disappeared. Great. Yuugi started looking through rooms until he heard a lot of yelling down the hall. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Atem!”

“She said they wouldn't accept him!”

“You’re the king! They have to accept anything you throw at them.”

Joey scoffed, “Why’re ya yellin’ at us? Fuckin’ yell at her.”

Yuugi slowly made his way down the hall, listening to Atem screaming at Kaiba and Joey. He felt horrible. Kaiba genuinely didn’t sound like he knew anything about this. Mahado must have kept it from him too. He should’ve told Atem when he found out, but now he saw why Mahado wanted it secret. Atem was furious. He’d never seen him like this before. Maybe he should’ve asked him about how he was when he was angry, like he’d asked him.

“We’re not going to London to discuss the war like you told me we were. Why did you lie to me?!”

“I didn’t lie to you! I don’t waste my time. We’re going to discuss the war.”

Yuugi slowed to a stop, barely hearing Atem snarl at him. “No we’re not.”

“Yes we are!”

“No we're NOT!” 

Yuugi gasped and stepped back as one of the chairs from the library flew through the doorway and smashed into the wall, splintering. He gaped at it, then took a step into the doorway, seeing Joey’s hand on Kaiba’s shirt, but it didn’t look like he was holding him back from attacking Atem, more like he pulled him out of the way of the chair. They all stared at the doorway, at him, then Joey turned to Atem, still holding onto Kaiba’s shirt. “What the hell was that for?”

Atem’s eyes flashed with regret looking at Yuugi, then he turned to Joey and all his anger came back. “You _ dragged _ me here. I didn’t want to be here, but I am and I’ll be damned if I let you trick me into tearing this kingdom apart! My father worked so hard to keep this together. I’ll not be the one to destroy it!”

Joey let go of Kaiba and took a step toward Atem. “We ain’t trickin’ ya inta shit Atem. Chill the fuck out!”

That just made everything worse. Atem’s eyes darkened red, his fangs clenched tight together. “NO! I will not! You lied to me! Why am I even here?!” Atem turned and looked at the books, muttering under his breath in Arabic about how he wanted to go home.

When he turned back to Joey, Yuugi thought he’d start yelling at him again, and he sure did, but he was so upset he was yelling at them in Arabic. Telling him he hated being lied to, that this wasn’t what he wanted, that the court wasn’t letting him do anything. He’d wasted his time while they did what they wanted pretending to listen to him. He said he was pretty sure they were having world meetings without him there and accusing Joey and Kaiba of knowing about it and just distracting him so he wouldn't find out. Then accused them of holding him back so they could do whatever plan they wanted to push through without his knowledge. Atem said they were using him, and he was furious because he was actually trying. They made him believe he could do this, all the while pretending, so they could use him. Then he went on to yell at Joey about how everything was his fault because he had one good thing out of this and he wasn’t even going to be able to keep it; ending with asking him why he shouldn't kill them. 

The whole rant, Joey was staring at him like he’d lost his mind, slowly smiling, especially when he finished, glaring at him expecting an answer but Joey had no idea what he said at all. He turned to Kaiba, grinning ear to ear and shoving his hands in his pockets. “Ya catch any a that?”

Yuugi tried not to laugh when Kaiba smiled back at him. “Would you believe that’s one of the few languages I don’t know?”

“Ya knew whatever the fuck Kungawo was sayin’, but ya got nothin’ here?”

Kaiba’s smile disappeared and he sighed through his nose. “Their house was friends with Lilly.”

Atem balled his fists at his sides, his anger still there and getting worked up again because now he had to say all of that all over again. 

“Atem.” Yuugi waited until Atem turned to face him, still mad and it looked like he was mad at him too. But unlike being mad at Kaiba and Joey, he should be mad at him. So he thought it would be easier for Atem if he talked to him in Arabic too since he was so upset.  _ “They have no idea what you're talking about.” _

_ “Yes they do! How can you say that?” _

_ “You really think that Kaiba, the one who everyone thinks is trying to take over the world with a Lycan army, is expertly manipulating court without people showing up at the castle doors with pitchforks and torches? Really?” _

Atem relaxed a little but, but he was still mad. 

_ “And you really think Joey, who’s my best friend and trying really hard to look out for you too, would be completely okay with us going blindly in there for them to do what your mother just did?” _

Atem glanced at Kaiba and Joey then sighed, turning back to him.  _ “No.” _

_ “See? They have no idea what you’re talking about, and trust me, they’ll be just as mad as you are about it.” _

_ “Why aren’t you mad about it?”  _ Atem murmured, narrowing his eyes at him not at all in a friendly way and he supposed he deserved that.

_ “I think Mahado found out about all of this. He asked me if I was staying so he could figure out how to help you.” _

_ “So I should be yelling at him?” _

_ “No. We need to figure out who’s doing all this though. It’s not Kaiba and it’s not Mahado.” _

_ “We? You said you didn’t want anything to do with this.” _

_ “I didn’t before because I wanted to make up my mind if I was staying. I’ve decided. I’m staying,”  _ he said, smiling when Atem’s fury melted away.  _ “That’s what I've been doing the last few days, trying to get ready for that.”  _ He gestured toward the door of the library and chortled, _ “I still need a lot of work.” _

_ “You’re… you’re staying?” _

_ “I’m not going anywhere without you. You’re supposed to be protecting me, remember?”  _

Atem smiled back at him. _ “I did promise that.” _

_ “Mahado, Kaiba and Joey all believe in you. That wasn’t a lie. I believe in you too.” _

Atem kept smiling at him, not saying anything. After a moment of silence Joey groaned, “Is someone gonna tell us why ya threw a chair at us?”

Atem looked back at him wincing, making Yuugi laugh. 

“Not just a fuckin’ kitchen chair either, those things are fuckin’ heavy. We coulda died.”

Kaiba scoffed. “You’re being dramatic.”

“Shoulda let him hit ya then. See who’s bein’ fuckin’ dramatic.”

Yuugi cleared his throat. “The court is having meetings without us. They don’t want me to be the Crowned Prince and they’re going to try and make Atem marry who they pick.”

“What?!”

Yuugi smiled when Kaiba became just as furious as Atem was. He turned to Atem grinning,  _ “I told you so.” _

Joey frowned, looking between all of them. “Can they do that?”

“No they can’t. Are you sure about that? Why wouldn’t we know about it? Karen would know about it.”

“Not if it isn’t all of them,” Atem muttered.

“We need to leave now.” Kaiba grabbed Joey by the arm and started to drag him to the doorway when Mahado walked in, pushing Nefret inside too. 

Yuugi blinked, both of them looked furious, just like Atem was. Mahado pushed her past Yuugi towards Atem and started talking to him, well angrily talking to him in the same language his mom said what Yuugi didn’t catch. Next thing he knew, Atem was upset all over again and arguing with Mahado. 

Joey nudged him, whispering loudly, “Ya catchin’ that too?”

“Not this time,” Yuugi whispered back, “I have no idea what they're saying.”

“It sounds just like what ya were sayin’ earlier.”

“That’s Arabic, this is Ancient Egyptian, I think, and it’s not at all the same.”

“Don’t ya know that too? Ya and gramps use it all the time.”

“No Joey. We talk in Arabic all the time. Grandpa would probably know what they’re saying, but I only knew a little bit.”

“Ya gotta be hearin’ somethin’.”

Yuugi tried to focus really hard and started muttering, trying to remember individual words or phrases he was picking out of what they said. “Uh… This isn’t making any sense Joey.”

The more they argued, the more Arabic he was picking up from Atem when he’d get too upset and forget what he was talking about. Which was adorable, but not helpful in any way for either of them. At least, not until Atem forgot the word for innocent in Ancient Egyptian and tried to explain it in Arabic. Yuugi decided he needed to intervene because Atem was struggling and he was pretty sure Mahado was trying to accuse his mom of something. Not that he was sure she wasn’t. She stood tall and indignant instead of terrified and defensive. 

“Mahado.”

Mahado turned and glared at him. “This does not concern you, Yuugi.”

Yuugi glared back at him and started to give Mahado a good piece of his mind when Kaiba grabbed both him and Joey and drug them out through the doorway. “Wait!”

But Kaiba didn’t. “We have things to do.”

“I think Mahado is accusing Atem’s mom of something. We need to-”

“Let him handle it.”

Yuugi blinked up at him. “You know what they’re talking about?”

Kaiba nodded. “Egypt isn’t doing well. The Marquis’ are supposed to be supporting Atem and protecting the Lycans, but her sector is actively hunting them and convincing the others to follow. It’s gotten to the point Grandmaster Duke has alerted Mahado the Egyptian Order is occupying his district until he comes back to sort it out.”

“I… I had no idea… but, we can’t leave him in there like that. He’s really upset.”

Kaiba let go of them, slowing his pace and watching him like he was waiting for him to try and run back. He thought about it. “He needs to learn that blood isn’t the same as family. If you want to know about that disaster, talk to Joey’s mom.”

Joey snorted. “Yeah. I talked ta her ‘bout it. If I didn’t think Atem would kill me, I’d make sure she never came back here.”

“I got her to leave for a few months,” Kaiba smirked like he was proud of himself, “Yuugi brought her back.”

“Ahh so it’s  _ your _ fault.”

His fault?! “What did I do?”

“Gave her something else to bitch about,” Kaiba muttered as they rounded the corner to his office.

“Atem doesn’t think she’s like that.”

Joey laughed. “Yeah he does. Did he tell ya he bailed on her bitchin’ ta join the Knights? She was pissed she couldn’t make him do anythin’ while he was with them. They wouldn’t let her near him. Mom said Aknankamon tried ta get him outta there too and bring him ta the castle in London with him, but he saw how much Atem loved it and decided that was better for him. His mom’s a bitch, but she’s his family. I think he’s doin’ all this cause he feels like she’s all he’s got left.”

Yuugi groaned, “Yeah I can see that.”

“We need to get to London, now, not when they’re finished.” Kaiba pushed open the door to his office and stood to the side waiting for them to go in, glaring at Yuugi, “And you’re going to explain what’s going on while I arrange that.”


	12. Chapter 12

They left about an hour after Kaiba dragged them into his office, but Atem stayed behind in Vol luxious with Mahado, deciding what would become of his mom. Kaiba arranged for them to stay at a different hotel in London than originally planned so they could monitor court without the other members knowing they were there. He still wasn’t entirely sure what the name of the hotel was. It was too dark and foggy to read the sign when they came in. 

Yuugi tried sleeping while he waited for Atem, but he just couldn’t. So much happened in the last 24 hours. His brain would just not stop. So he gave up and left the hotel room, making his way to the lobby. The hotel was stunning. Deep mahogany wood paneling on everything, floor to ceiling, with intricate molding and painted panels of gold and mossy green flowed through the entire hotel, save for the rooms. He loved his room. Wooden four post bed and Queen Anne chairs beside a fireplace across from the foot. It sort of reminded him of home, or the castle in Domino. Yeah. It reminded him of home. 

He couldn’t get over the beautiful carved wood molding down the halls, but stepping into the lobby really floored him. Golden chandeliers hung high in the ceiling; not lighting the room enough to be bright, just warm. The leather sofas and loveseats in the lobby looked too beautiful to sit in. He felt like he was in the grand British manor of some lord. It was just so beautiful!  Lost in his admiration of the room, he almost missed the click of heels behind him. “What’re you doing up, buttercup?”

Yuugi turned to see Mai standing just behind him, pulling down her lavender mask and cowl. He smiled and lifted his shoulders. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

She nodded and pointed behind her at the hotel front doors. “Have you seen the old castle?”

“What old castle?”

“Domino isn’t the only place with a mysterious castle that no one knows where it came from or if it was ever there in the first place.” She winked and put her hand on her hip. “According to the brochures, Blackmire Castle dates back to the same time period as the Tower of London, though I’ll let you in a secret; it’s so much older. I think you’ll find it interesting. It’s a little bookworm’s delight.” She chuckled and walked over to the front desk. She reached across the desk and grabbed a small notepad, drawing a small map for him and handed it to him. “Be careful, sugar.”

“I will. Thank you, Mai.”

She winked at him and walked away, disappearing into the lobby. He lifted his cowl and pulled the mask up, making sure it was secure around his face. He didn't want to go through the ordeal with his arm ever again. It was horrible. Luckily, the sun wasn’t bright, hidden behind clouds that threatened to rain at any minute. The walk to the castle was short and the directions pretty easy to follow. He was pleasantly surprised. 

Despite the directions and Mai telling him to go check it out, walking up to the ominous castle felt like he was doing something he shouldn’t be or going somewhere he wasn’t allowed to be. Still, he kept walking up the stone steps and pushed open the heavy wooden doors. Once he was inside, he felt like he’d walked into his home away from home, which was weird considering it looked like something out of Dracula. 

Admiring the red velvet furniture and dark wooden walls, he paid more attention to the designs carved by hand into the wood. It wasn’t a pattern, but more like a carved mural of things he recognized, not by sight, but by what they were; stories of the past, the Vampire’s past. He followed the carved murals of battles and the crowning of kings and queens, and all with a familiar figure in the background. He recognized the people and the events, but he didn’t recognize the figure at all. Who was that? The mural continued on under a large painting, but it pulled his attention to it. 

The painting wasn’t anything drastically special and seemed rather boring and unskilled compared to the rest of the rooms carvings and designs. A boy or a man (it was hard to tell) held out his hand to someone off the painting who reached for him as well. It was a curious painting, but not because of the boy or man or whatever he was or even the pale hand coming from off frame. It was curious because of the darkness taking up the rest of the painting. At first it was just the man or boy and the pale hand painted on black, but the longer he stared at the painting, the more he saw in the darkness; carnage, death, screams and wails, blood, fangs, loss. He swore he could hear the things in the black paint, swore he could see them moving and took a step back. 

“I should’ve made Mai come with me…” He left the room with the painting, glancing back at it as he went, fearing something in it would come to live and crawl out of it, but it never did.

Making his way through the oddly angled rooms winding like a labyrinth through the castle, he found himself walking into a library; even bigger than the one in the castle in the mountains. Display cases lined the outer edges of the room, and a fireplace on the far wall. Red velvet sofas and chairs sat randomly through the room, or perhaps they were perfectly placed to create the illusion of chaos. What caught his attention was the window seats of crushed red velvet and beautiful black curtains covering the stained glass windows. Now that’s a place to read. 

He walked up to one of the display cases and looked inside. On top of red silk was a golden plaque about one of the kings and his sword inside. The sword caught his attention first, golden handle with blues and reds and a curved blade with strange symbols along the top of it. He leaned down to read the plaque to find out more about the sword. “Atem...” So this was the sword of the King Atem was named after.

He heard what he swore was snoring and looked up towards the fireplace. He blinked, seeing Kaiba on one of the velvet sofas with a book in his hands. It didn’t explain the snoring though. Walking a little closer, he saw Joey passed out and snoring, laying in Kaiba’s lap. He laughed, couldn't stop it, and Kaiba glanced up. “There you are.”

“Huh?”

“I expected you earlier. Did you get any sleep?”

Yuugi smiled and shook his head. “Couldn’t. I’m really worried about Atem.”

He gestured with the book to the chair beside the sofa and Yuugi walked over to it. Kaiba still held the book out like he wanted him to take it, so he did and sat down. “Are you sure Mahado said you were part of Aleric’s bloodline?” Kaiba asked, looking him over.

“Yeah. I’m not sure what that means, though.”

“Aleric was one of the most gifted of the pure bloodlines. He could make the ground quake and move things with his will alone. He caused an avalanche in a battle to save his men. I don’t think that story was in our books at the castle.”

“No. If it was, I’d know about it. That sounds awesome!” Yuugi giggled, brushing his fingers over the leather book cover. “What is this?”

“The book about Aleric’s gifts and bloodline.” Kaiba glanced down at the book. “A rumor that’s undocumented but spoken among some of the court is Aleric could do much more than move things. He had a way of digging information out of his enemies or giving orders without uttering a single word. It could just be rumors, but…”

“I guess that makes sense. He was able to take down the Mararia bloodline without much trouble.”

Kaiba nodded, looking him dead in the eyes. “You can do that as well.”

Yuugi stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “No. No I can’t.”

“Have you tried?”

“Well… no.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Like do what?”

Kaiba searched the library, resting his gaze on the display case Yuugi found the sword from the King Atem was named after. “Get the sword.”

Yuugi looked down at the book, shaking his head. “I can’t do that. That’s… that’s crazy. No one can do that.”

“No one can be a Vampire either, yet here we are. Get the sword.”

He huffed and looked over at the case, but nothing happened.

“Hmmm.”

“Hmmm what?”

“Yuugi just get the damn sword. It’s not complicated.”

Yuugi blinked. He tried! “I can’t.”

“You haven’t tried.”

“I did try just now!”

Kaiba scoffed and snatched the book out of his hands. 

Yuugi stared at him, mouth gaped and wide eyed at a loss for words. What happened? “I really did.”

He didn’t say anything. Was he ignoring him?

“Kaiba?”

He was! 

Yuugi glared at him. He hated being ignored. Fine. If he was going to be a dick for no reason, he could glare at the case until he thought of a good smart ass thing to say and get him to stop ignoring him. So he turned to the case giving it the coldest of the death stares; not that it did a damn thing either except make him more upset. Kaiba was asking too much. He couldn’t do that. He had no idea how to even try. Was he supposed to say something, do something, think something? Who fucking knew and Kaiba wasn’t helping. 

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. What’s the point? No one can do that. If he could do stuff like that he wouldn’t be so worried about helping Atem and about court and everything else. Instead, he was in the library stuck with Kaiba being a jerk to him and Joey was too passed out to be of any use.

All of the sudden Kaiba started laughing and it made him jump. Then he jumped again hearing the clang of metal beside the open display case. When did it open? Kaiba hummed and shook his head, closing the book. “I can’t believe that actually worked.”

Joey sucked in a sharp breath and sat up. “What?”

“Go to sleep. I wasn't talking to you.”

“Huh?”

“Go to sleep, pup.” 

Joey yawned and turned, facing away from them and laying back down on Kaiba’s lap. Yuugi was so stunned, he just stared at Joey’s back as he fell right back to sleep. Kaiba turned his attention back to Yuugi. “You just need practice.”

“I... I can’t do that. I didn’t do that.”

“So you expect me to believe it just jumped out of the case on it’s own?”

Yuugi muttered and stuttered, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation, but eventually just gave up. “Yeah. It’s honestly way more believable.”

Kaiba held out the book to him again, smirking. “What’s more believable, Yuugi, is you’re a lot stronger than you think you are.”

Yuugi suddenly felt awkwardly out of place trying to come up with a retort and explanation of ‘no, he was not, at all, even kinda’, but it didn’t get any more coherent than that. So he took the book and opened it up, hoping Kaiba wouldn’t say anything else. The page he’d opened to talked about Aleric’s daughter and the scandal that ended up destroying his entire bloodline. It talked about the daughters gifts, exactly like Aleric’s, and speculations that maybe Aleric was so hard on her because he thought she was a threat to him and his reign. The instance of note, was her ability to hide her human lover from him for  _ years. _ The only reason she was discovered at all was she tried to run away. The knights found her, but by that point she’d already had her baby and the human and her baby were long gone. According to the book, she told him what she wanted to and didn’t say a word more and Aleric had no way of finding out the rest, even after he sentenced her. He ended up killing her out of anger that he still couldn’t read her mind. At least, that’s what the book said. Yuugi wondered if part of it was sympathy for his little girl being in pain. Aleric might be an evil emperor hands down, but of all the things Yuugi read about him, he had a soft spot for his daughter. 

“Everything I read about the bloodlines makes no sense.” He looked up, expecting Kaiba to say something, but he was focused on staring at Joey with a strangled frown. “Nothing to say?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Oh… sorry.”

He was quiet for a while, looking down at Joey, then said, “All my life, the bloodlines were never talked about. I have no books on them either. You should take advantage of the library here. This is the only place in the world you’d get an answer to that, if there is one at all.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Yuugi snickered, setting the book down on the table. He got up and walked over to one of the bookshelves. “So uh… how do I search through all these for what I want?”

“Depends. What are you looking for?”

“I want to know more about all of the pure bloodlines. Why are they so special? What’s special about Atem’s bloodline? Seems like there was something special about mine, right? Maybe that can help.”

Kaiba pointed to a shelf on the other side of the library, but didn’t say anything more. So he walked over to it and read over the titles. It was all their records of the Kings before, and tons of books on the subject. This was perfect! He pushed a rolling ladder over to it and started grabbing books that struck his interest, piling them up in his arms. Carrying the books over to the nook that was perfect for reading, he smiled to himself. He felt like he did his first day at college, too excited to realize how crazy it would get, sitting in the library for hours reading through books and working on papers. Setting the books down on it, he settled in for the long haul. He was totally right. This nook was reading heaven. He opened some of the books for visual aids; time lines and family trees. Then he picked up the first book of his pile and got to work. 

After several hours, he had a good idea why they were important, but didn’t know how he felt about it. Even if he did, he had a million more questions. Each question lead him down a rabbit hole into another and another and another, until he was just about as sidetracked as he could possibly get.

He found the names of every Archduke, Grand Duchess, Marquiness, Count and Knight in history; perfectly categorized by bloodline from the original 10, all the way to the massive number he saw on the paper totaling them all out. They changed houses around, since they branched so much from the original ten, but he still got the idea. After searching for forever, he realized, Kaiba wasn’t on it. At all. Neither was Mokuba, and just as curiously, neither was Alistar. According to these records, all three of them didn’t belong to a bloodline. They were only added much later as part of the same house at the same time. 

More digging and expanding through the library lead him to another conclusion. The only reason they were on the books at all was because they insisted. He found records of Kaiba and Alistar’s marriage, of Alistar’s conscription and removal from the house, and recently, Joey and his family’s addition to Kaiba’s house, but all of that was done at Kaiba’s request and not all of them were done on the day it happened. Their marriage wasn’t added until well after they became Archdukes. If Marquis or even Archdukes could sneak out of this system… what if a pureblood could? What if they  _ did _ ?

Yuugi only existed because someone messed up and lead Aleric to think he’d killed off his family. What if something like that happened with the others? The ‘gifts’ of the 10 pure bloodlines floored him. If he could move the sword, chances were, the other bloodline’s claims were real too. If that were the case, and someone from those bloodlines was still kicking, floating around in the world, and opposed Atem, they were in a lot of trouble. He kept feeling in his gut that someone controlled the Lycan that almost dropped him off the cliff. He owed it to them to figure this out. They died for no reason. 

“Kaiba?”

He looked up, but Kaiba was asleep. Joey, at some point, moved again. Though it looked sort of like Kaiba woke him up and made him move then accidentally fell asleep himself. It was a perfect image of both of them, Joey sprawled out pretty much everywhere the sofa would allow; his right leg over the edge so his foot rested on the ground and his left arm sticking straight out over Kaiba’s shoulder and off the arm of the sofa. Kaiba on the other hand, stayed exactly how he was when Yuugi came into the library. Nothing about his posture changed, save for his arms wrapped tight around Joey like he fell asleep hugging him. 

There was no way on earth they intended for anyone to see them like that with how ridiculous they were in general. Death before admission. He giggled, shaking his head, and crossed his arms over his chest. He really should take a picture. Mokuba and Mai would pay him for it. He smiled, reaching for his phone in his pocket as he settled back into his nook, when movement by the library door caught his eye. An elderly lady with pure white hair, curled and fastened in the back, wearing a navy skirt and matching jacket, walked up to him holding a silver tea platter. Her maroon lipstick drew his attention to her polite and elegant smile as she held the tray out to him. “Tea, your majesty?”

“Oh uh, thank you.” He picked up a tea cup, red and steaming, but it smelled of earl grey tea. He took a sip and she started to walk away when he cleared his throat. “I uh… I have a question and he-” he giggled, looking over at Kaiba- “He’s asleep so I was wondering if you could answer it.”

She turned and glanced over at Kaiba and Joey. “It’s about time he fell asleep. The grouch.” She laughed and turned back, nodding to him. “I’ll do my best. What is it you’d like to know, your majesty?”

“Who is the Dark Emperor?”

Her eyes lit up, just like Mrs. Dourty did when he asked her how her day was at the game shop when her grandson came in to get something. He’d be there for hours, and he wasn’t joking, hours talking to her about everything under the sun, but she was so sweet about it. He made time to ask her every day she came in. He wondered how she was? He hadn’t seen her in years. Not since he met Adrian.

She set the tray down on the table, poured herself a cup of tea and sat on the window seat with him. “What are they doing in that castle of yours? You should know this already.”

“Well, I was trying to stay out of everything.”

“Stay out of everything? Well, let me be the first to welcome you into ‘everything’.” She chuckled and looked down at her tea, her hands shaking slightly. She had to be in her late 80’s. Was she human? “My name is Gretta; Unholy Sister Gretta and this is Blackmire Castle, or better known to Vampires as  _ Sepulcrum mortis Dei. _ ” 

“What’s that mean?”

“It means, this is the last known place of worship for our god that still stands today-” She took a sip of her tea, which he was still pretty sure was blood, but wasn’t positive- “For the Unholy Dark Emperor; the father of all Vampires.”

“So… Are we supposed to worship him or something?”

She blinked and then grinned. “His most unholy is worshiped and revered by all our kind, until we return to his side in death or await his return to bring about the end of the world as we know it.”

Then Yuugi blinked at her. “...So we’re a cult?”

He didn’t realize he might’ve offended her, but her soft laughter banished that worry as quick as he had it. “Yes. Yes we are.”

“I… I don’t know how I feel about that,” he murmured, staring down at the book. “I’m not… that’s…”

“A lot for a human to swallow, isn’t it?” He looked up at her knowing grin. “Most humans who become one of our kind served his most unholy long before, but others, like yourself, it’s quite an adjustment.”

“I can’t-I mean, I’m not-”

She set the cup down and regarded him for a moment, then crossed her wrinkled hands over her knee. “What do you believe?”

“I don’t really know.”

“You don’t know, because you can’t see it. You have no way of knowing if it’s real or not. Just like Vampires, right? You are one now. You see it. You know others like it. It’s real.”

“Yeah…”

“Our Dark Emperor is very real. I’ve met him. I’ve seen his face and I’ve heard his unholy voice.”

“That’s terrifying,” Yuugi mumbled to himself and shifted on the window seat, looking up at her. “So there’s a real god out there waiting-”

“He isn’t waiting. We are waiting.”

“Why are we waiting? Waiting on what?”

“That depends on how you wish to interpret his will. Some of us believe his most unholy will return to this world when the time comes to merge it with his realm of death. Others, myself included, believe he’s waiting for the right moment to create a utopia here on Earth so that the souls that pass to him will always be satisfied.”

“That’s a pretty big jump in interpretation.”

“Armageddon is interpreted in millions of different ways, but it is still what it is: the end of something.”

“This just sounds crazy.”

She shot him a warning glare and he shrunk back. For being over 80, that was terrifying. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to talk to another non-believer.”

“W-what?”

“Last I spoke with him, he was anxious to meet you. Especially after he met Archduke Kaiba and the Lycan.”

“Don’t worry Yuug’. You’ll like him,” Joey said, making Yuugi jump and almost throw his tea cup. Kaiba was still asleep, but Joey was looking right at him. 

“He’s actually real? You’ve met him?!”

“Yeah, he’s somethin’. If it makes ya feel better Yuug’, Kaiba didn’t think he was real either.”

“No,” she laughed, “He did not. Our most unholy has been out of our world for a while. The both of you, apparently, made a lasting impression.”

Yuugi felt a wave of panic, but he shook his head not letting that override why he’d asked the question in the first place. “Why, uh, so why does a pureblood need to be King then?”

“They are closest to his most unholy.”

“And they have special things going on because they are… part god?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. That actually helps a lot.” Yuugi licked his lips and looked down at his books, murmuring to himself, “So why doesn’t Atem have any of these gifts?”

“You’re rather studied on our kind, from what I’ve heard. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He forced a smile and she smiled back standing up. “I’ll leave the tea here. If you have anymore questions about our most unholy just pop in!”

He watched her disappear out of the library and looked down at his books frowning. So there’s a Vampire God who cursed Atem’s bloodline so he’s not able to do what he should be able to do, but even if he was, it wouldn’t really help him. The thing that held Yuugi’s curiosity was the dates on the timeline where all the remaining bloodlines ‘ended’. What are the odds of 4 bloodlines just stopping like that? None. “Yuug’? Ya alright?”

Yuugi turned his attention to Joey and noticed they were both awake. Joey sat by Kaiba’s feet while he’d returned to reading the book he had. Yuugi sighed, regretting not getting a picture, but the moment had passed. “I don’t know. It’s not every day you find out you’re part of a doomsday cult... or part evil god.”

Joey snorted and laughed. “I wouldn’t say evil. He’s.. I dunno. He ain’t evil, just got a weird way of doing shit. You’re totally in a cult though.”

Kaiba didn’t find it funny. “No one’s part of a cult.”

Joey turned to him, grinning. “End of the world groups are cults Kaiba.”

He rolled his eyes and turned his scowl to Yuugi. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I found out about Atem’s bloodline! They used to be able to move around in the shadows, going places all over the world from one shadow to another, could predict danger and see things lost in the shadows. Like, it sounds really cool, but Atem can’t do any of that. Apparently, the Dark Emperor was pissed about his grandfather being a bastard,” he laughed. “If I’m understanding everything right, he should've been mad at Aleric and M-something, Mu...urgh give up. That name is hard. There’s a ton of evil Kings and Emperors, but he only cursed Atem’s family. I don’t understand why.”

Kaiba closed his book, tossing it onto the floor and stood from the sofa, ignoring Joey’s complains when he almost pushed him off the sofa to get up. Joey stood up anyway, while Kaiba strode over to the book Yuugi held in his hands, snatching it to read it. Joey stretched, yawning, “Yeah that’s weird.” He sighed and let his arms fall to his sides before shoving his hands in his pockets, walking up to Kaiba’s side. “I dunno. I didn’t think he was the ‘evil take over the world’ kinda guy when we met him.”

Yuugi gestured to the books. “That’s what I’m saying. It’s weird.”

“Not entirely. Aleric and-” Kaiba pointed to the name of the M-something Emperor’s wife- “Eshargamelat not Mannum-ki-iliya.”

Yuugi leaned over and gasped. “Ohhhhh. That makes a million times more sense.”

“It does. To answer your question, although they were ruthless, they ruled by the Dark Emperors example. They followed the rules to the letter while pushing their own agendas. He wanted us to end the world's suffering, they took that to heart and tried to kill everyone and were particularly hard on our kind if anyone stepped out of line. Between Ogendus and Nebmaatre, Atem’s grandfather, the world suffered. He wasn’t happy with either of them and condemned them both.” 

“Yeah, but why curse his bloodline and not just him?”

Kaiba glanced at him like he knew the answer to that, but didn’t say. So Joey did. “Us. Aknankamon didn’t start fightin’ for Lycans until I came around.”

“That makes sense... What about the rest of the pure bloodlines? They just all stopped at the same time.”

“Because of the war.”

“No, it was before. They just disappeared.” Yuugi picked up the book with the pureblood’s family trees to show Kaiba. “What I’m really freaked out about is, what if one of these guys is still alive?”

“Worried ‘bout your crown?” Joey snickered.

“No. I’m worried about the Lycans and humans. If Aleric or Eshuuu….”

He tried to get her name right. It was important, but he just couldn’t. Not that Kaiba gave him a chance to figure it out. “Eshargamelat.”

“Yeah her. If they were alive when the Lycans existed, they could’ve easily had that Lycan army, half destroyed the whole world, and apparently no one would’ve cared.”

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. “There were Lycans then.”

“No there weren’t.” Yuugi grabbed the book with timelines. “See. This is Aleric’s rule, this is when the first cursed Lycan existed. Lycans came about when there were Kings not Emperors. I don’t know why it switched, but it did at some point.”

“Hmm.” Kaiba looked over the books then side-eyed him. “I thought you were staying out of everything.”

“I was so bored. I read a lot.”

“Had me fuckin’ bored watchin’ him.”

“That explains why I had to double our food order,” Kaiba remarked, glancing up at Joey with a smirk then back down at the book. “In my books, the title switched because of the war. We were no longer Emperors of the world, but Kings of our kind.”

“That would make sense, except that’s not what happened.”

Joey stood up on his tiptoes, trying to read over Kaiba’s shoulder. “So whaddya think happened?”

Kaiba tisked. “I think we had an undocumented civil war between the pure bloodlines and it had to happen before the Lycan curse existed.”

“A civil war that lead to the Lycan war,” Yuugi said, “because that’s when the history starts up again. The war left one bloodline; Atem’s.”

“Convenient.”

“Yeah,“ Yuugi sighed in frustration. “This is what I don’t get. If I can find this, everyone else can too. What’s so hard about reading a few books? They’re giving Atem so much trouble and they have no idea...”

Joey snickered.

“My sentiments exactly,” Kaiba muttered. 

Yuugi started to collect up his books to put them back when one caught his attention reminding him of the names. “Oh, Kaiba, I was wondering if you had another name. I couldn’t find your name in these,” He said, waving the book before setting it down on the stack in his arms.

“What?”

Yuugi gestured with his head back over to the wall he’d got them from, then turned to walk over to the bookshelf. “Every Vampire that isn’t rogue is listed in here. Well that’s not true. Rogues are too, but they’re crossed out. I looked through all of them and you and Mokuba aren’t in there. Where are you from? I’m sure Gretta would want to add you both. It was probably a mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake.”

Yuugi frowned and stopped making his way over to the bookshelf to turn around. The instant he did, Joey gave him a look to drop it. He forced a smile and nervously laughed. “Oh well. I mean I'm sure not everyone’s in there. I mean, I’m not. So-”

“You are,” Kaiba said “You’re listed under Atem’s bloodline.”

Yuugi set the stack of books down and flipped through the one with Atem’s bloodline to prove Kaiba wrong. He’d stared at these books for hours. He’d know if his name was on there. A quick look through at the page and sure enough, his name was the last on the list. Kaiba was actually right. He frowned down at his name while Joey bickered with Kaiba. After spending so much time searching for Kaiba’s name through the lists and lists of bloodlines, Yuugi knew what each little nuance meant in the lists. Bloodlines by marriage were listed differently than bloodlines by turning. Sometimes marriage didn’t pull the other into their bloodline, and sometimes turned vampires are listed well below or on the outside of the lists, indicating they’re part of the bloodline but not part of anything else. Yuugi’s name was right beside Atem’s, exactly how the categorize marriages and ever-so slightly dropped so their names weren’t level to indicate he was turned instead of brought over from a different bloodline. 

He kept telling himself that didn’t mean they were married or anything like that yet. Just that Atem turned him into a vampire. That’s how they categorize it, but the warmth he felt all over looking at their names so close together amongst all the others on the book just felt right. 

“-na be a smart ass, why ain’t your name in the book, huh?”

“My bloodline ended.”

“Your bloodline can’t end if you’re alive.”

“It can if I can’t prove where it started.” 

Yuugi glanced over his shoulder then started putting books back, very intently listening in on their conversation now. 

“So what? Ya don’t exist anyway?”

“On paper, no.”

“That’s fuckin’ bullshit.”

Yuugi put another book back, listening to Joey pacing and Kaiba snicker at him. “It worked out in my favor though. When we were put in Lilly’s house we brought no titles, so I only had to take care of Domino City, then when I became Archduke I took over all of Domino.”

“Yeah, but ya woulda anyway. I mean ya can’t sit still for fuckin’ nothin’.”

“True, but it wouldn’t be Domino’s titles I’d be after. Mokuba and I are from a village south of St. Petersburg and were brought to the castle up near Murmansk. If I was in that book, I’d be competing with Mina for Russia.”

Yuugi spun around slowly giving Kaiba the same look Joey was giving him.

“Wait? You’re from Russia? Ya… how the fuck are ya from Russia? Ya don’t sound or look or-”

“I tried finding census information around then, but our names aren’t listed. We don’t exist to the humans either. All I remember is that we were born and raised in a village in Russia and lived for a few years in the Castle Von Odiysk as Humans.”

Joey huffed and threw his arms up asking the exact same question Yuugi was thinking, “Where the fuck is that even at?”

Kaiba walked over to a large globe in the corner of the library and slowly spun it, turning to face Joey and pointing towards the top. Joey walked over to it, frowned, leaned in really close, then continued to frown up at him. “That ain’t a place, Kaiba. That’s an fuckin’ ice patch.”

Yuugi laughed, drawing their attention to him and he lifted his shoulders feeling like maybe he should’ve just snuck out at some point. Kaiba gestured towards the open display case on the other side of the room, ignoring Joey’s bewildered cross eyed gaze at the globe. “Still can’t move the sword?”

“I haven’t tried.”

“Try it again.”

Yuugi looked over at the case and remembered the sword was still on the ground. He’d forgotten he left it there. Joey jumped when it lifted into the air and floated through the library toward Kaiba. He grabbed it out of the air and spun the handle in his hand, frowning at Yuugi. “You do realize, if what I think you’re hinting at is correct, we’re already at war.”

Yuugi sighed, “Yeah. Those Lycans that attacked us were under orders. They had no idea where they were. They didn’t want to hurt us and everyone’s giving Atem a lot more trouble than they ever did in  _ history _ . It’s almost like they already knew what to do after his father died and they’re trying to sweep him under the rug. I’m really worried about where this is going.”

Kaiba stared at him, thinking it over. Then turned to Joey, sighing through his nose, his lips pursed. Joey waited for him to say something, but he didn’t and he couldn’t take the silence. “What?”

“I think we may have given our enemy an advantage.”

“We did?”

“You taught the Lycans how to change. Since they can, they can be controlled to do so.”

Joey blinked. “Oh… fuck. That’s bad.”

\----

Yuugi laid on the floor in Joey’s mom and Serenity’s hotel room. They told him he could bother them all he wanted to while he waited for Atem to come out of his room, so he was. Poor Atem. He came in while Yuugi was at the castle in the library with Kaiba and Joey and, according to Joey’s mom, promptly locked himself in his room. No one talked to him or heard from him since he arrived and he wasn’t answering the door for anyone either. He wanted to talk to him, make him feel better, but he probably needed space. He’d need space. 

So he laid on the scratchy patterned navy carpet staring up at the ceiling while Joey’s mom hand sewed his spare cowl since it didn’t fit quite right. He was lost in thought when Serenity came into the room. Joey’s mom looked up at her over her glasses with a big grin. “How was your date, honey?”

“It couldn’t be more perfect! I can’t believe I had my first date in LONDON!” Serenity squealed and swooned against the closed door, then promptly pushed off of it with a sobering sigh, “but I’ve decided Vampires are weird.”

Yuugi laughed, returning his gaze to the ceiling, “Yeah, they are!”

“You’re one too, you know?”

“I don’t associate with those people.”

“Oh no! What happened? Did he finally come out of there?”

“No and nothing happened. I’m just… having a hard time wrapping my head around everything. Like you said, Vampires are weird.”

Serenity put her coat on the nearby chair and joined him on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. She exhaled loudly then started giggling, nudging him, “I heard Atem threw a chair at Joey and Kaiba.”

“He did! After ripping a door  _ off its hinges _ and throwing it into a wall. I just- It’s a lot.”

Joey’s mom glanced over the cowl. “Why did he do that?”

“His mom said that court held meetings without him, told him he was incompetent, and I wasn’t good enough.”

Both made a loud ‘ahhhhh’ and Joey’s mom went back to sewing. 

“And apparently that’s normal?”

Serenity laughed. “I wouldn't say ‘normal’, but I mean, give him some credit. That’s cutthroat, right? She got him where it counted all in one go and the fact she brought you into it just made it 100% worse.”

Joey’s mom snorted, laughing. “Yeah I got yelled at for letting you guys go on that picnic.”

“To be fair mom, we did get attacked.”

“When he’s right, he’s right.”

Yuugi sat up and sighed, looking down at the scar on his arm. “I'm really worried about him. This is a lot all at one time. He was really upset when we left and he hasn’t talked to any of us since he got here.”

Serenity sat up to, crossing her legs and holding onto her crossed ankles. She puffed out her cheeks, exhaling loudly then looked up at her mom. “We should try to do something.”

“Best I can do is go in there and drag him here by his ear.”

“You used to do that to Joey all the time.”

“First of all, Joey isn’t a Vampire Knight King who could probably kill me with his pinky finger. Second, it sounds like the witch won’t be a problem anymore.”

“Yeah.” Serenity pointed at Yuugi and narrowed her eyes. “Mahado said we can’t tell him about that. So shhh.”

“Third, I’m still trying to figure out what angle I’m working this ‘cause I’m with Yuugi. It’s a lot and it doesn’t make any sense.”

Yuugi looked at her and the longer he looked at her, the more he was confused. “Angle?”

Joey’s mom took her glasses off, setting the cowl down in her lap, and forced a weak smile. “I promised his father I’d help him, but Atem’s just like him. They can’t stand needing help.”

Serenity laughed and it made him smile, but he didn't know anything about Atem’s dad to laugh with her. That made him feel guilty. “So you both knew Atem’s dad pretty well?”

“Oh yeah!” Serenity beamed. “He came by and talked about Atem with mom all the time.”

“It’s what we did every Friday. Talk about the boys and Lilly.”

“Yeah. He was mad crushing on Lilly.”

“I’m pretty sure they were a thing.”

Yuugi looked between them. “A thing?” 

“Oh yeah.” Joey’s mom said, getting up from the bed to walk over to the mini fridge. “When Seto, Mokuba, and Alistar started helping out the Lycans, she threw herself into court to stand up for her boys. She hovered around the castle too and saw him a lot. A LOT. If you want my opinion, she was worried someone was going to try and kill him and wanted to protect him.”

Serenity held out her hand to her mom asking for a drink as well and she grabbed a bottled water from it to hand her. “It’s a little bit romantic and a little bit tragic. She died doing the one thing she loved; protecting her boys.”

“So uh-” Yuugi chewed the inside of his cheek, looking down at his lap and scratching the back of his neck- “I’ve been meaning to ask, and I really didn’t want to ask Atem cause… you know, but… what happened to her and his dad?”

Serenity and her mom looked at each other like they were trying to think of how to answer that, then Serenity smiled at him. “Mom and I used to live with Lilly at her Castle after Joey moved to Vol Luxouis with Kaiba. She invited the King over for tea because, like we said mad crushing, and uh… the castle was attacked. They fought them off, but the King was shot. He was dying. So they sent us out a secret servants passage and she stayed with him, making sure we had time to get out safe. She fought off so many of them to keep them from getting to Aknankamon. She was… she  _ is _ amazing.”

“She killed the bastard who shot him too. She killed almost everyone that came through the door. I think they did it to not just kill the King, but to take out Lilly’s house. They’re the most powerful in court. Even the King said so, but her being gone just lit a fire under her boys to keep going. It did the exact opposite of what they were hoping for. Lilly and Aknankamon believed in this. He knew Atem could do this.”

“Of course he can. He’s doing it right now.” Yuugi frowned then pushed himself up. 

“Where are you going, honey?”

“I can’t sit around all night. I want to help. Serenity?”

“Yeah?”

“Want to help me?”

She beamed at him and scrambled to her feet. “Sure! What’d you got in mind?”

Yuugi smiled, relieved that he had some enthusiastic help. He was so glad they were there. Serenity walked out of the hotel room, waving to her mom and shut the door once Yuugi was outside in the hallway. She walked around him, still looking at him and waiting for his answer. He wasn’t really sure what he had in mind. “I think he needs something fun to do. When things are too much for me, my friends take me out to get my mind off it. I think he could use that.”

“That’s a great idea! So are you wanting to plan like a hang out thing or are you wanting it to be more like a date?”

Yuugi scrunched up his nose, glaring at the patterned carpet as they walked down the hallway to the lobby. “Well…”

“Mai knows all the cool places here.”

“That’s a good idea. We can talk to Mai.”

“If you want my opinion though,” she said, walking beside him and putting her hands together, pointing at him with both of them, “I think you should do something more  _ you _ .”

“More  _ me _ ?”

“Yeah. What’d you do at the castle that cheered him up ‘cause he was always happy after he saw you.”

He reached up and fiddled with his hair, looking down at the ground as they walked down the hallway. He knew he was smiling like an idiot but he was really happy to hear that. “I don’t know. We played games I guess.”

“Like the string thing?”

“Yeah… I got an idea.”

“I’m excited! Lead the way!”

\-----

Atem sat on the end of the bed in his hotel room with his head in his hands. He just didn’t understand. His mom didn’t even deny it or try to explain (aside from tearing him down like she normally did). This was too much to look past, too much to brush over, and too much to handle. He left, giving her fate to Mahado and asking him, as a friend, not to tell him what he decided to do. He didn’t want to know and didn’t want to be part of it. He didn’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone, either, but here Karen was, sitting on the bed next to him anyway. He needed to think. She wasn’t letting him think.

“How did you get in here?”

She snickered, “Back in the day hotel locks were super easy to pick. Now you have to fake the key thing out. Luckily, Joey showed me how on accident. Don’t tell him I did it.”

He chuckled, shaking his head, “Have you always been like this?”

“Oh yeah. Had to be better for my kids though. Still comes in handy.”

“...Yeah.”

“What can I do for you, Atem?”

“Aside from leave?”

“I’m not leaving. You need to talk to someone.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You have several people here that know all about parents letting you down. You can talk to any of us.”

“She didn’t let me down. I let her down. I let my father down too.”

“You’ve  _ never _ let your father down. As for your mother, how? By not doing exactly what she told you to do every second of every day not the right way at the right time? Atem you’d never be able to make her happy.”

“Maybe. I didn’t try. I wouldn’t know.”

“If you really never tried, why is it bothering you now?”

“That’s not what’s bothering me.”

She waited and when he didn’t explain more, she nudged him. “I’m going to bother you until you talk to me.”

“I don’t understand why.”

“I promised your father I’d do for you what I do for Joey. If it was him locked in a room being gloomy right now, I’d be sulking around his room folding his clothes and sighing repetitively until he asked me what was wrong so I could make him talk to me.”

He tried to keep a straight face, but the thought of her walking around the room huffing and Joey’s increasing irritation about it had him laughing. 

“It's true. Works like a charm. Gets him good and pissed off then all of a sudden he’s talking about everything under the sun. So, talk to me or I’ll go get clothes to walk around the room and sigh at you too. Come on. What’s bothering you?”

He didn’t want to talk about it yet. He was still working it out, but he thought for sure she’d leave right after he said it, so he went ahead. “I think I made a mistake choosing Yuugi.”

Karen tensed beside him, like he figured she would, but didn’t say anything or move aside from that. He couldn’t catch a break. She nudged him again, much weaker than before. “No you didn’t.”

“I know I did.”

“Yuugi told me what she said about him. She’s wrong and you know it.”

“I know she’s wrong, but still, I shouldn’t have brought him into this. I should’ve held my ground and refused. I just wanted out. I wasn’t going to come back.” He glared at the worn down navy patterned carpet, shaking his head slowly. Still trying to figure out at what point everything went wrong like he’d done since he left Domino, but he kept coming to one conclusion; it all slipped out of his control when he met Yuugi. “I planned on spending one last night drinking with Joey and his friends then leaving, never be heard from again. The only reason I’m here is because of him.”

“You think things would be better if you left?”

“For me? Yes. I know they would be.” Atem frowned at the carpet. Something didn't feel right about saying that. So he tilted his head, trying to explain himself, “It would be better because I had no idea what better was. It’s ironic, really. I’ve come full circle since I left Alexandria to join the Order. I left one cage just to run right into another one. I knew it was happening too. I saw it, I felt it, but I wanted to… I shouldn’t have picked Yuugi.”

Karen hummed and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t think you _ picked  _ anything. I also don’t think I’ve seen you make a single decision since I met you. All you’re doing is reacting. Did you do that as a Grandmaster too?”

He smiled. “Not as a Grandmaster, but most of my early knighthood, yes. Grandmaster Devrim used to harp on me about it all the time, telling me I needed to ‘think ahead’ and ‘predict the enemy’s movements’. I made sure as Seneschal and Grandmaster I did that. I was at least 3 steps ahead of everyone.”

“Why aren’t you doing that now?”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“Three steps ahead would send me in there shooting everyone.”

Karen laughed, making the bed shift. “It’s still not a bad idea.”

“It isn’t. It never was, I guess, and you’re right. I’m just reacting and that’s always gotten me into trouble. If I’d taken a step back, like I should have, I would’ve realized I needed to fight court when they said they needed ‘representation’. Nothing I’ve done since then is right. All of it’s wrong.” He sighed, burying his hands in his hair, screwing his eyes shut, and resting his elbows on his knees. “I wish my father was here so I could talk to him again and ask him how he did this.”

“Oh honey-” she leaned her shoulder against his- “I want that too.”

“It’s not going to happen though.”

“Maybe not, but I have a good idea what you’re father would say if he was here.”

“What's that? ’What the hell are you doing’?”

“Yes,” she laughed, “but not because you’re messing everything up. He’d say that because you’re sitting here, talking about walking out, and regretting probably the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

“He didn’t believe in that. He believed the only one you should count on was his most unholy. Everyone else just wants something from you.”

“He did,” she said with a fond smile and kicked up both her feet to roll her ankles before setting them back on the navy carpet. “Then he realized a human was running his court behind his back, started seeing his old girlfriend again, and got some really good advice from a hellhound.”

Atem looked up at her like she’d lost her mind. “What are you talking about?”

“Your father had quite the interesting last year of his life. When I first met him, he was trying to save you from having to fight in this war because he remembered the last one and he didn’t want you to be part of it. But after spending a little time with us, all of us that he threw into Seto’s house-” Karen paused and murmured under her breath, “that poor guy. Anyway, he decided to build a foundation for you to come in and do everything he couldn’t do. I honestly don’t think he wanted you to fix this with a happy court or compromise, Atem. It’s just not your thing.”

“No it’s not.”

“And my point is, Yuugi knows it's not your thing too.” 

Atem shook his head, closing his eyes again, fingers wound tight in his hair. No. No he didn’t. He could tell him all he wanted to, explain it down to the smallest detail, but that never mattered. It didn’t matter before, why would it matter now?

“My mother used to say ‘home is where the heart is’ all the time when I was younger. My dad was in the military so we bounced around all the time when I was growing up. I hated that saying as a kid, and never felt like anywhere was home. I didn't feel like I was home as an adult either. Not until I had my son. Now I understand what my mom meant. It comes and goes with him and Serenity. They are my home and I’m willing to bet my tailor shop that even if Yuugi left right now, your feeling of home would follow him.”

He opened his eyes, but refused to look at her. Maybe. 

“I get it. I really do. It’s always been you against the world, right? It’s why you keep wanting to go back. You think it’s easier when it’s just you. So did your father and so did I, but trust me, easier doesn’t mean better.”

But she was wrong. He had no way of telling her that without her giving him a speech so he stayed quiet, hoping she’d leave. This wasn’t getting him anywhere. All it did was make him feel worse. 

“Let’s try this a different way,” Karen said, changing the tone of her voice from motherly to unamused as she leaned back on her hand, “You’re father isn’t here, Atem, and you’re the King now. You have three of the most knowledgeable court members existing talking to you about this war and everything it entails. You have the one who started it all at your beck and call if you wanted in case you need him to answer any question you could possibly come up with. And, as an added bonus, you have all my gossip and all of Yuugi’s bookworm knowledge of your history. You know more than any person in the whole world about this threat of war. If you honestly think I’m buying that all you got out of it, is to go in there and shot everyone, you’re crazy. I know you have an idea of how you want to handle this; off the wall or not, you do have one. If you didn’t have a shadow to live under and hundreds telling you ‘no’ all the time, what do you want to do about it?”

He laughed, flopping back on the bed and staring up at the wood panel ceiling. ”That isn’t the only reason I’m not doing what I think we should.”

“Again, what is that?”

Atem sighed, “I know you probably don’t have any idea of our Dark Emperor but he’s the soul of the Order’s purpose. We answer only to him, but none of the Grandmasters have heard from him since the last Right Hand and the Orders split, maybe even before that. I think we’ve moved away from him since the war with the Lycans and I want to bring us back to our purpose. My father did what he did to keep peace and rebuild, but we are rebuilt. It’s time to go back to what we were before.”

“So why aren’t you doing that?”

“I wanted to make my father proud,” He closed his eyes and grit his teeth. “And I wanted to be better for Yuugi, but I’m not and I can’t. I shouldn’t have tried. I know what I need to do. Knew it before you came to get me in Cairo. When the world meeting happens tomorrow, I’ll tell them I’m absolving court and merging the Orders. A move like that would start a world war much larger than the civil war or the war the court fears with the Lycans or even the war years ago that almost destroyed our kind. It will touch every being, living and undead, on this planet.”

Karen stood up and walked in front of him, making him sit up and look at her. “Why would you want to do that?”

“The Emperors of the past had the right idea, just not the right execution. With the other pure bloodlines vying for power, it made it impossible for our kind to work as a whole. Between the Lycans and the Order, we’d have complete control over the world again. We could remake it exactly as he wanted it.”

Karen’s grin widened and she shook her head, looking at him like he was crazy. That was what he thought she’d do, then she laughed. “Okay… Got it, but… You know how crazy this sounds right? You have a court that thinks you’re a joke and all the Orders have had a long time to enjoy sovereignty. They do their own thing, court does their own thing, and it’s ALWAYS been like that.”

“Yes, it has always been separate, but our purpose is to end suffering and control the world for the Dark Emperor. Joey eased the suffering of the Lycans and _he saw_ _him_. He’s been gone for centuries. This is what he wants. Every Knight who believes in our oath will join me in this. It’s what they’ve waited for since I was crowned. We all feel this way. This is the right thing to do. I just…” Atem sighed, looking away from her, “I didn’t know if I could do it. I wanted to do this, but I wanted to do it my father’s way and after all this time of trying I've realized it’s impossible. I’m not him. I gave up on it, but then I ran into Yuugi and he made me feel like I could. All this time I tried to figure out another way so I wouldn’t lose him, but there’s no other way. I’ve tried them all. This was my last chance. I’m taking it.”

Karen chewed her fingernails, pacing in front of him getting more worked up as she talked, “Let’s say for a second that you’re right and this is the plan of all plans, what about everyone else? What about your rogues and humans like me and Serenity? What about the Lycans that don’t want to fight or can’t? This is… this isn't a Vampire issue, this is a world,” she threw her hands up trying to say something and groaned, “thing. What exactly are you saying? You want to march Knights through the whole world and take over everywhere?!”

“Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying. Tomorrow I’m merging the Orders and abolishing the court. It will start a war, throughout the entire world and when it’s finished, no matter who wins, we’ll be one.”

“I uh. I-It’s just… This is crazy Atem! I can’t even… wrap my head around it. You  _ want  _ to start that kind of a war? What about… what about  _ everyone _ ?” He watched her pace more then stop in front of him. “Where did this come from?”

“It’s not as outlandish as you think. I’ve discussed it at dinner parties when I lived in Alexandria with my mother and with other Knights of the Order for centuries. It’s not a new ideal to our kind.”

“It’s going to be news to the rest of the world!”

He sighed, frowning at her. “No one wants war. _ I _ don’t want war, but after I found out my mother tried to take over Egypt from Mahado and the court has no intention of honoring my wishes as King, I realized the option for compromise and peace was never really on the table. They want war, Karen. It will happen no matter what I do, and if war is what’s to become of us, I want it to be for the right reasons. I’m not going to let us start another genocide or sit back and let the world suffer. I won’t watch another war play out under my nose and do nothing. I wanted to try and do right by my father, but I won’t let this continue. I can’t sit back this time. I promised myself and I promised  _ him _ I would not. I don’t break my oaths.”

“I… I know you don’t,” Karen sighed and crouched down on the balls of her feet, searching his face. He smiled, wondering if Joey learned that from her. He’d seen him do the same thing multiple times. Then Karen smiled at him, not happy but not upset. “At least this sounds more like you. Still don’t like it, but you’re right. Sometimes it’s better to set it off yourself. Gives you more control over it. Have you talked to Yuugi about this? Does he have any idea you feel this way about it?”

“No and I suppose it’s too much to ask that you make him leave for me so he’s safe and I never have to?”

She laughed. “You’re on your own there. Even if I was your number one cheerleader singing your praises about this, I think making Yuugi leave is literally the worst thing you could possibly do. You should at least talk to him. You might be surprised.”

Atem snickered sadly and shook his head, “Habibi may be full of surprises but… I know him. He won’t surprise me with this. I need you to think of where you and Serenity should go when I do this. It won’t be safe for you either.”

Karen grinned, full of pride. “I’m part of Seto’s house and I don’t abandon family. Even if I wanted to leave, Serenity won’t. That girl is FULLY invested and I can’t leave all of you boys here alone. You need supervised and my dear Mai can only do so much.” She stood up and patted his shoulder. “You have my gossip and my sewing skills, your majesty. Get some sleep.”

He watched her walk away and leave the room, feeling both a little better and a little worse. His plan felt more solid, more thought out and more real now, but so did the fact he had to let Yuugi go. Maybe if he had some sleep, he’d come up with a way to do this without losing himself in the process.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hate this chapter. I've rewritten, edited, scrapped, gutted, and rewritten it so many times I'm giving up. Hopefully you'll enjoy it way more than me. Snap and stuff. -.-

Atem bolted up at a soft knock at the door and huffed. When did he fall asleep? He got up and walked to the door. “Hold on,” he yawned and reached for the handle (expecting it to be Karen again), but when he opened the door, he saw Yuugi standing in the hallway with a sympathetic smile. “Hi. I uh… I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“It’s alright. I was just taking a nap.”

“Oh yeah, that makes sense,” he murmured, looking incredibly disappointed and conflicted, “I’m sure you’re tired.”

Atem snickered, leaning against the door frame. “Did you have something else in mind?”

His smile returned and he nodded. “I thought you could use a night away and I’ve never been to London before. Mai told me about a club not far from the hotel we could go to. She said it’s always fun.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to leave the hotel.”

“We’re not, but uh- Mai said she’d cover for us... I just thought it would be a fun date.”

“A date, huh?”

Yuugi’s smile widened and he nodded again. “Unless you want me to invi-”

“No.”

He stepped out of the hotel room and let the door closed behind him feeling warmth flow through him from Yuugi’s pleased grin. It hurt to think he may never feel warmth from him again. He backed away and turned to walk down the hall, keeping his eyes on him as they walked. Yuugi reached out and entwined his fingers in his, squeezing his hand. “It’s going to get better. I promise.”

Atem squeezed his hand back, not wanting to admit how badly he needed to hear that. They walked through the hotel to the lobby doors, then out onto the wet pavement. It just finished raining and many that walked through the streets still held their umbrellas open against their shoulders. He followed Yuugi through the streets towards the club Mai told him about, happily telling him all about it. 

When they turned the corner towards the club, Yuugi groaned, “Must be a popular place. Look at that line. If you want to go somewhere else-”

“I doubt it will be long. We don’t like being outside without cover.” 

Yuugi giggled and they made their way towards the line. When they got to the doors Atem looked up at the bouncer. He willed him to let them in and he waved at Yuugi, getting his attention. He grinned at them, stepping aside with the rope to let them through. “No, that’s okay. We can-”

“Hurry up. Offer’s only going once.”

Atem snickered and pushed Yuugi along towards the door. Yuugi relented and flashing the others an apologetic smile. He lead Yuugi through the sea of people towards the dance floor, watching him gape and gawk at everything and everyone inside. When he found a place for them on the dancefloor he pulled him to his chest and snaked his arm around his waist. Yuugi smiled at him, then looked nervously at the other people dancing around them. He looked back at him and leaned forward so he ocul hear him over the loud music.

“I have no idea how to dance to this. I don't think I've ever heard music like this before.”

“Of course you haven’t. You’re a vampire. You’re not supposed to just listen to it.” He put his hands on Yuugi’s hips and moved him with the music, slow and hypnotic. “You’re supposed to feel it. If it helps, close your eyes.”

Yuugi closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to Atem’s letting him move him. He watched him, loving every minute of Yuugi experiencing something he never had before for the first time. His expressions changed from impatience to understanding and delight as he relaxed and moved with him to the music. He opened his eyes and practically purred, “I love this.”

“It’s much better with you.”

He smiled, closing his eyes again. “I don’t know how you can think that.”

He held him tighter smiling back. “Because I love you.”

But Yuugi didn’t hear him, lost in the music and having a wonderful time dancing in his arms. So he let him, hating himself for needing to push him away. This was all he wanted. He’d spent all day trying to figure out how to get Yuugi to leave so he’d be safe. He had his work cut out for him. Despite the odds, he was still there. The idea of going to court and fighting, dealing with the horrible things his mother said about him, and the possibility of going to war, hadn’t deterred him at all. The one thing he could think of that would send Yuugi walking out and never looking back, was something he wasn’t sure he could stomach doing to him. Not after he confided in him, but it was for his own good. For both of their own good. He felt guilty, watching Yuugi tilt his head and smile at him with curiosity as well as desire. “Are you okay?”

He couldn’t believe he was actually doing it, but he didn’t know what else to do. “How badly do you want to get out of here and go back to my room with me?”

When Yuugi looked him in the eyes, he willed him to put his arms over his shoulders and tilted his head, giving Atem complete access to his neck. Yuugi stared at him, the warmth in him completely gone. That hurt more than it should have, but he was already committed. Yuugi wasn’t committed on the other hand, searching his eyes like he’d whispered a suggestion he liked, but wasn’t sure whether to say yes or not. Then he hesitantly lifted his arms up on his shoulders and tilted his head to the side, still looking in his eyes as if to say he didn’t understand what was going on, but he trusted him.

With that trust, Atem sank his fangs into his neck.

Yuugi tensed up, gripping the back of his hair and shirt as tight as possible, pressing his lips into his Atem’s shoulder. The music was loud, sending tremors through the floor, but all he could hear was Yuugi’s shallow breaths and feel him quivering in pleasure in his arms. He pressed his body against him, warm, on fire, then gasped, “That feels so...” he paused and his voice sounded so small he barely heard it, “fuzzy. This is wrong.”

He shoved against Atem’s shoulders, stumbling back into someone and hastily apologized. Yuugi glanced around at everyone, some looking at them others lost in their own world. When he looked back at Atem, he realized this was the worst idea he could’ve done. Yuugi wasn’t upset. He wasn’t furious. He wasn’t even betrayed or embarrassed. He was afraid. 

“Yuugi I-”

“Have you done that this whole time?”

“What?”

Then he grabbed Atem’s wrist hard, yanking him off the dance floor and out of the club. He had no idea what was going on. Especially when Yuugi let go of him, but kept walking down a street heading in the opposite direction of the hotel. 

“Yuugi?”

\----

Yuugi kept walking through the puddles and the passersby towards the ‘surprise’ Serenity helped him set up. Not that he had a damn clue why he was still going there. Probably because he wanted Atem to feel as bad as he did and he couldn’t get his mouth to work at the club. Atem was manipulating him. Did he do that the whole time? Had he controlled him like that from the beginning? No red flags, but plenty of fuzzy memories. Was it Atem’s fault he had fuzzy memories? Would he even tell him the truth if he asked? Why wasn’t he running?! This was his worst fear!

He tried not to let his nerves get the better of him when the fire escape they tied a purple ribbon came into view from the alleyway. He walked up to it, muttering when it started raining again, and climbed it, seeing Atem wasn’t far from him after past the first floor. He climbed the ladder up to the roof, then made his way across it to a bent sign that had a blanket under it to shield them from the rain; a small lit lantern, loop of string, and a deck of cards resting on top of it. He heard footsteps behind him as Atem rounded his side, staring down at the makeshift shelter too. 

Yuugi tried to think of what to say, tried to work through how he was feeling, settling on anger and fear as they stood silently in the pouring rain. He didn’t even look up at Atem when he muttered, “I guess one good thing came out of this. I can’t cry anymore.” When he finally did glance over at Atem, he was still staring at the blanket. “How long have you done that? Is that why I can’t remember anything?” 

Atem didn’t move, didn’t respond, drenched from the rain, then slowly met his gaze, frowning like he didn't understand what Yuugi was asking. How couldn’t he?!

His confusion ignited Yuugi’s anger over the situation, completely overriding everything else. “What’s the excuse Atem? Not doing what you want me to or that you can manipulate me whenever the hell you want? Is this something all of you do to get what you want or is it just something  _ you _ do?”

Atem scoffed, shaking his head at the blanket and wiping some of the rain from his forehead. He refused to look at him as he turned to walk back to the fire escape. “Go home, Yuugi.”

He glared at him, watching him walk away. “So now you’re going to talk to me instead of manipulating me into doing it? Have you done that this whole time?” He waited, but Atem kept walking not saying a word. He screwed his eyes shut, smoothing his sopping wet hair back. “Just answer me! Have you done that this whole time?!”

“No.”

“Then explain why you did that!”

“Because you’re not strong enough to stay here. Go home.”

Yuugi took a step to the side, still watching him walk away and completely confused. “What?”

Atem stopped and faced him. “I don’t know what you aren’t understanding. I don’t need you here. I don’t need your help and I don’t need anyone else's ‘help’ either. Goodbye Yuugi.”

Atem turned back around and walked through the rain to the edge of the roof with the fire escape. As he jumped up on it, Yuugi screamed at him, “You promised you’d fight for me!”

When Atem hesitated, Yuugi grit his teeth. He didn't understand. Why? What happened? He didn’t know whether he believed that Atem hadn’t done this before, but he certainly made a point to ‘show’ it now. If he did do it before, he didn’t notice. So why? He did it on purpose. Not what he did, but how he wanted Yuugi to know he did it. After he told him how much he was worried about it, how afraid he was of it, this was a very blatant attempt at getting Yuugi to walk away. Which was probably why Atem wasn’t talking to him and trying to leave. So he balled his fits at his sides, glaring at the handle of the fire escape. He wasn’t letting him get away without an explanation. The handle bent and snapped, making Atem jump back. Yuugi heard the metal scream and snap alongside the building. He couldn’t run now.

When Atem turned back to look at him, he just glared back. “Not strong enough, huh? Is that really what you think?! I’m sick and tired of everyone brushing me off. I’m not strong enough, not smart enough, not good enough. I have a degree in game design, speak three different languages, probably know more about Vampires than you do, but no! Still not good enough. Can’t get a job for anything besides copying papers and sending emails. That's all I’m good for. Go home to that. Great. Except now I can’t even do that because I’m not trying to be in the sun anymore. My arm STILL hurts!”

Atem hopped down from the roof edge and took a few steps closer to him, his eyes narrowed and his hair plastered to the sides of his face from the rain. He started to say something then shook his head, gesturing to him then the fire escape. “Yuugi, what are you doing?”

“You wanted a fight with me, now you got one. We’re going to be here a while.” Yuugi huffed and threw his arms to his sides. “Where is all of this coming from? Since when did it matter to you if I was ‘strong enough’ or not? We’re supposed to be doing this together, right? You threw a 70 pound solid oak chair at Kaiba because you thought I might not be able to stay with you and you didn’t even know I wanted to stay.”

Atem looked over at the door to the stairs and Yuugi looked over at it too. The walls around it cracked and the door crumpled; the whole thing collapsed in on itself. Atem gasped and gestured to the heap of rubble. “How are you doing that?!”

“Why does it matter? I’m obviously not strong enough to do anything to help you and you don’t want my help anyway. Guess you’re stuck.”

“ _ We’re _ stuck.”

“Not my problem.”

Atem frowned, walking away from the side of the roof. 

“It’s really not hard to just talk to me. Why aren’t you?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“You just did the one thing you knew would bother me!”

“Exactly. Why are you keeping me here?” he asked and spun around, snarling, “I just did the one thing you’ve been waiting on since you met me! You wanted an excuse to leave. LEAVE!”

“I told you I was sorry about that! You’re not like that.”

“I just-”

“Yeah you did. Still waiting on the ‘why’.”

“Because I made a mistake. I should never have brought you here.”

“Probably not Atem, but I’m here now,” Yuugi huffed. “Why are you trying to back track now? It’s a little late.”

Atem snarled through gritted teeth, “I don’t want you here.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re holding me back!”

Yuugi’s chest tightened. That hurt a lot more than he thought it would. 

Atem paced along the rooftop, looking just as hurt as Yuugi felt and he had no idea what he was thinking. What was he doing? “I never wanted to do this. I want to go home.”

“... Then let’s go home.”

“I can’t! I don’t have a home anymore. My father is dead, my mother is dead, my Order is someone else's. I have no home anymore. Instead I'm here, stuck on a-a...” Atem growled, looking down at the rooftop. He kicked his foot into his and muttered in Arabic,  _ “this cursed thing!” _

“The roof? The hotel?” Yuugi whispered trying to help, smiling despite himself.  _ “Just talk to me how you want, Atem. I get it.”  _

Atem looked up at him, lips pursed and nose slightly wrinkled then immediately looked away, starting over in Arabic,  _ “I don’t have a home. I have nowhere and no one to go back to. It’s all gone. I have to keep up this mistake and lose more as I go. I want you to go home!” _

“I’m not going anywhere.”

_ “Why? You have nothing here! You’re still just as much human as the first day I met you and you won’t survive here. You’re holding me back! You’re keeping me here on this cursed rooftop in a city I’ve always hated arguing with me because you don’t have enough sense to just leave! I’m not who you think I am and I’m never going to be what you want!” _

Yuugi stuttered and tried to focus on one thought at one time, but there was just a million things going through his head he couldn't focus on one thing. He sighed, taking a step back and looking out at the city. He hated it here? Why? It was very much the opposite of what Atem would consider home, and maybe that was why. Or maybe it was because this was where his dad was and he never got a chance to really be with him. Maybe it was because of the court being here. The more he thought about it the more it made sense. He’d hate it too. Now he felt stupid for not realizing that earlier. Yuugi huffed and turned back, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Atem wasn’t where he was before, he’d walked over to the ac units and sat on the edge of one, hunched over with his elbows on his knees, one hand rubbing his temple. Taking a step forward, Yuugi took a deep breath and sighed, “You know what? You're right. I don’t have enough sense to just leave. I don’t know what the difference is between giving up and getting out. It’s always felt the same to me.” When Atem didn’t say anything, he took another step closer. “And you’re probably right. I’m the worst Vampire ever. I have no idea when I’m hungry, have a sunburn on my arm because I genuinely thought I could just go anywhere like I did before and that’s now how it works. I still can’t shoot a gun for anything and that’s at a target. I can’t even imagine pointing it at someone, but that doesn’t mean I should leave.”

Atem started to say something to that, but locked his jaw instead, shaking his head slightly into his hand.

Yuugi smiled and took another step closer, standing directly in front of him. “Remember I asked you why you picked me? You said it was because you saw that I was a good friend and you needed that. Do you know why I went home with you?”

“No.”

“I was going to leave when you lied to me.” Yuugi smiled at him, taking a deep breath. “Ryou didn’t get sick. I was watching the table the whole time.”

Atem stared back at him; a little surprised and a little confused. “Why didn’t you?”

“Well, in the end you got me distracted on wanting to move to a different city with me.” Yuugi chuckled softly and shook his head, “but over all, you immediately agreed to play a game with me and my friends, never meeting us before or even hearing about the game. You spent all night playing that game with us and completely ignored the attractive guy who got you a drink.”

“He wasn’t-”

“How would you know?” Yuugi laughed. “You didn’t even see him.”

“I looked right at him.”

“Exactly. You did, but then you went right back to our game like it didn't matter. You weren’t looking at him like some guy who got you a drink and brought it  _ to the table _ . You looked at him like you would the bartender. You could’ve been with anyone in that bar, but you were playing a game with me.”

“I wa- No I couldn’t.”

“How many people did you do that to?”

Atem lowered his hand from his temple and furrowed his brow. “What?”

“How many drinks did you get while you were there?”

“I don’t... I don’t know 6?”

“See? I went with you because of how you looked at me. You  _ saw _ me and you’ve looked at me that exact same way every night since then. You’re doing it right now. You lied so I’d stay.”

Atem’s expression softened and his gaze darted from Yuugi’s to the ground.

“You’re right. I was holding you back. I don’t know what I’m doing either. I’m pretty sure I’m making everything here worse for you, but… I want to help you.”

“Help me what? Kill everyone? Because that’s what’s going to happen.”

“No it’s not.”

“Yes it is. I’ve made my decision. I’m going to start this war and you can’t help me. I’m probably going to get shot while starting it and kill half of the court, but that’s what I WILL do. I’m not going to let you help me with this. You need to go home.”

That’s what Mahado wanted. He was a little surprised Atem came to that conclusion on his own and wondered why. He thought about asking, but it was more important for Atem to realize he wasn’t going anywhere. “Okay, but I'm not going home.”

“You're not listening to me.”

“I'm listening just fine. I’m hearing a lot of ‘you think you can do everything by yourself’. You’re wrong.”

“This is war. People are going to die. It’s not like your books or-”

“I’m not ten! I _ KNOW _ !” Yuugi jolted feeling the entire building tremble. He gasped, staring down at cracks snaking along the roof. He felt it then. It was him, but he didn’t mean to and didn’t know how to fix it.

Atem was staring at them too, then looked up at him. “How are you doing that?!”

“I don’t- I'm apparently related to Aleric and have his stuff. I don’t know. I’m working on it.”

“You- you’re what?”

“Mahado said I’m a descendant of Aleric’s daughter or something like that.”

“That’s impossible. You were human.”

“I don’t know, Atem! Talk to Mahado about it and quit changing the subject. Why don’t you want me to help you?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Considering I could accidentally collapse this building and kill both of us, I’m going to say that’s a shitty excuse. Try again.”

Atem laughed, his smile fading slightly and he took a deep breath. “I read the book of King Arthur and his Knights on the flight here.” Yuugi blinked, staring at him, wondering what that had to do with anything as Atem folded his hands together, still not looking directly at him. “It’s not like that. I don’t… I don’t want you to change how you see me and I know that what I have to do, this war, it will do that. I want you to go home. I shouldn't have brought you into this and I shouldn't have tried to be something I’m not. I lost my best friend because of that. I can’t lose you like that. I’d rather you leave here now, hating me for something I’m not, than be unable to accept me for what I am.”

Although that made a world of sense and Yuugi probably should’ve expected it in some way, he was floored. He didn't realize that was something that affected him that much. He brought it up, talked about it without trying to hide it, and even when he was talking about it, he didn’t sound upset about it. It sounded like he’d made peace with it, but that wasn’t true at all, was it? He could see it, written all over his face and the way he wouldn't look him in the eyes, he hadn’t forgotten it or made peace with anything. He was afraid of it happening again and Yuugi really understood how he felt. He understood being afraid. 

“How did you get any of that from reading that book? Those guys were all a bunch of jerks.” He smiled when Atem laughed, then moved forward to wrap his arms around Atem’s neck; his smile growing when Atem hugged him back. He closed his eyes and tightened his grip on him. “I love you. I’m going to love you anyway. It doesn't matter.”

“It does matter. ”

“I don’t love you because of what you do or what you are. I love you because of  _ who _ you are. So no, it doesn’t matter.” Yuugi nuzzled into his hair, sliding one hand over his back and the other tangled in his hair as he murmured to him Arabic, _ “I’m always going to be here for you. I can’t go anywhere without you. You're my knight and you protect me.” _

_ “I don’t want you to get hurt,” _ he whispered, hugging him tighter.

He just smiled into his hair.  _ “We agreed not to promise no one would get hurt, right?” _

_ “Right.” _

_ “So we're doing this together.”  _ Yuugi leaned back, cupping the sides of his face and making him look up. “Besides, telling me to go home isn’t going to work. You’ll still have to deal with me when you get back to Domino. I live with you, remember?”

He was hoping Atem would smile but he looked pained, leaning away from him. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant,” he murmured, kneeling down in front of Atem to make him look at him. “And I know you’re wrong. You’re everything I want and you’re still 100% too good to be true. I read those books at the castle because I wanted to know you better.”

“That doesn't make any sense.”

“You’re a Vampire. You’ve been a Vampire your whole life. I had no idea what that was like or what it meant so I wanted to know. And I realized you have no idea what it’s like to ever be human; even though you’re pretty good at faking it. You grew up faking being human so you could be with your friends and you’ve faked it ever since; for court and the other knights because they were human and they still remember it. You’re still faking it, aren’t you?” Atem didn’t answer him so continued. “Just like you faked being from Domino when I first met you, trying to hide your accent and the apartment.”

“I don't understand why you’re still here. This is what you didn't want.”

“You’re not faking this. This is real. I know it’s real because I’ve spent months trying to convince myself it wasn’t instead of months trying to convince myself it was. You don’t need to be anything other than what you are anymore. I’m enough human for the both of us. If you really want to start the war and think it’s the best thing to do, I’ve got your damage control. You kind of need me here.”

Atem put his hand over his smiling at him the same way he always did before, filling him with warmth from head to toe despite the rain. “I do need you here.” He sank down from the ac unit, meeting him on the ground and wrapped his arms around him. It was like his warmth was contagious flowing into Atem where he touched him. He smiled, closing his eyes and letting it sink in. “I love you, habibi.”

“I love you too.” Yuugi kissed his neck and sat back on his heels, looking Atem over, soaked to the bone just like him. “Everything’s going to work out.”

“Thank you.”

Yuugi lifted his shoulders grinning ear to ear. “Don’t thank me just yet. I’m pretty sure I stranded us on the roof.”

Atem laughed and stood up, pulling Yuugi up with him. They walked hand in hand over to the rooftop ledge where the fire escape was and looked down. “Well,” Atem commented, “half the fire escape is still here. We can jump down.”

Yuugi smiled and nodded, squeezing his hand and letting him go. He walked back to the blanket to grab his cards and the string, then joined Atem. They both got up on the ledge and Atem took his hand again. Then they jumped down, making the fire escape shift. Yuugi winced, making Atem laugh and they climbed the rest of the way down to the alleyway. They walked to the hotel, talking about Yuugi’s new gifts and all the things he’d learned in the library. Atem laughed when he said they were part of a cult.

\---

In Atem’s hotel room, they peeled off their wet clothes and climbed into the shower together. Yuugi was so warm and he couldn’t keep his hands or lips off of him. He kept telling him how much he loved him; pulling him in with sweet loving kisses and warmth that scorched his bones and seeped into his soul. It wasn't long before he had Yuugi up against the shower wall, with his arms wrapped around his neck and his legs around his waist. He hung on every gasp and moan, every whisper and murmur in his ear telling him everything he loved, everything he did to drive him crazy and he did all of it. Realizing in Yuugi’s shuddering scream of his name as he came, pulling him into the dark swirls in his eyes and on the edges of his euphoric smile and throwing him over the edge, that this moment was his eternity, his home he’d tear apart the world to protect and to keep. When he remade the world, he’d make it just for him. 

Yuugi panted, pressing his forehead against Atem’s and giggled. 

“What’s so funny?”

“I feel sorry for the people next to you. That was a little loud.” He winced and Atem laughed.

“I’m surprised you didn’t break something. Last time you yelled at me you broke a roof.”

Yuugi laughed, moving his hand from his shoulders to cup the side of his face and kissed him. “I don’t know what I'm doing, obviously.” He giggled some more and looked into his eyes, still smiling just as he was before. “I’m sorry.”

Atem frowned. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one who ruined our date and made a lot of terrible decisions in the last 24 hours.”

“You have. Not all of them, but… several.” Yuugi kept smiling at him. “I’m sorry you feel like you can’t be yourself around people you care about and have to fight so hard against everyone else.” Yuugi titled his head. “I think you need a vacation.”

He sighed, “I’m pretty sure all of our time together at the castle was our vacation.”

Yuugi giggled nodding. “Probably. Then we better make this last day of vacation count.”

“That’s the plan.”

He backed up, gently setting Yuugi down in the shower. They washed off and got out of the shower, walking into his hotel room. He grabbed his clothes from his suitcase and looked up at Yuugi. “Do you want me to go to your room and get your clothes?”

“I don’t have any other clothes.” Hes shrugged. “One got ripped and the other is wet.”

“Karen made you more than that.”

“Yeah she did but she took them back to fix something and they’re not here now.”

He nodded. “So what are you going to wear?”

“I brought my comfy clothes.”

Atem beamed at him and got dressed, watching him sit on the edge of the bed, wrapped up in a towel. “I’ll be right back then.”

It didn’t take long to get to Yuugi's room and grabbed them. He had them laying on the bed. When he came back into the room, it looked empty. He turned the corner and saw Yuugi in the bathroom messing with his hair. “What are you doing?”

“Making sure it doesn’t poof.” When Atem laughed, he pouted at him. “It does.”

“I have your clothes.”

He handed them to Yuugi; who set them down, backing up and throwing in the towel into the tub. He got dressed while Atem sat down on the bed, watching him. Yuugi slid the coat up over his back and the crown and sword reminded him of what they’d talked about on the way back to the hotel. “Can you do the rest of what Aleric was able to?”

Yuugi turned to him, confused at first then shrugged. “That’s all he was able to do, wasn’t it?”

“No. He could do what I did maybe more.”

“No.”

“I think you could.”

“If I could, I could’ve stopped you.”

“I’m fairly certain you could have,” Atem said, smirking at him, “Apparently I didn’t choose something you’d want to fight enough.”

Yuugi wrinkled his nose. “Ah huh...”

“Did you try?”

He paused midway through buttoning the coat. “I think I did… I don’t know.”

“Not very hard.”

He smiled, like he was caught red handed and turned away from him. He finished getting dressed, then glanced back at him. “You’re very persuasive.”

Atem laughed and watched him walk over to the edge of the bed and sit down. “Want to try it again?”

“I don’t know.”

“You need to be able to protect yourself, habibi.”

“Yeah… Okay…”

“Look at me.”

When Yuugi met his eyes, he willed him to kiss him. Yuugi looked conflicted again, then his eyes darted down to his lips, hungrily licking his own. Despite that, he was trying this time, Atem gave him credit, but he didn’t try for long. Yuugi surged forward, losing the fight, and devoured his lips in a hungry kiss. He kissed him back, reaching up to cup the sides of Yuugi’s face. Then he pushed him back, breaking the kiss and holding him back from him. “You’re not fighting.”

“... I am.”

“You have to fight it even if it’s something you want, no matter what, because it’s not your choice. Hold onto that. It needs to be your choice.”

Yuugi pushed against his hands looking down hungrily at his lips. “I know...”

“So fight it.”

Yuugi pushed harder into his hands trying to get to him, his eyebrows knit together as he fought with himself to either move forward or jump back. He could feel him tense under his hands, his face warm under them. Then he relaxed completely, sitting up straight. He sighed and smiled. “I did it.”

“You did. I told you you could.”

Yuugi didn’t say anything despite looking like he had a lot he wanted to say. He reached up and brushed his hair behind his ear, resting his hand on the side of his face. “Can I try something?”

“As long as it doesn't involve getting me back for before, I think so.” 

Yuugi laughed, then bit his bottom lip. “Okay.”

He moved forward, brushing his lips against his. He could feel his breath on his lips. When he kissed him, Atem sucked in a sharp breath feeling a hum in the back of his mind, but he wasn’t willing him to do anything, just there, in his head...snooping around. Well snooping wasn’t the right word. He wasn’t hiding it at all, running along the edges of his memories leaving the feeling of soft touches along them like his hand on his back making small circles with his fingers over his skin. Atem realized, at that moment, Yuugi was on a completely different planet from him in terms of gifts from their bloodline. Was he just messing with him before saying he couldn’t fight his influence? 

It was strangely comforting though, feeling him brush across his mind like this. He felt relieved, like each touch took some of the sharpness away, some of the fear away. It felt like Yuugi was waiting for something, some opening in his thoughts to sweep in instead of brush the outer edges. That was dangerous and risky. Letting anyone in like that was asking for trouble, but it was Yuugi and he wanted him to know all of it anyway. Sure, he knew for a fact he held memories and thought Yuugi wouldn't like, but… he should know. So he let him in, deciding to actively make another bad decision because he was already on a roll. Why not?

The hum moved through his mind, still leaving behind the gentle touches. The further into his mind the hum moved, the more of Yuugi he was picking up. Being completely inexperienced with this, he left his side open and he could feel what Yuugi thought of each thing he discovered. Yuugi swept through his past, through his time as a knight. Each touch of those memories swelled him with pride. Yuugi was impressed and proud of him, but not just of him, proud that he knew him. He wished he’d stop there, or linger in those memories longer, but the hum moved further through his memories to him growing up in the castle by the seaside in Alexandria. Causing trouble with Emek at Adom’s family’s workshop. Sending warmth through his last memory of Emek, as if to say it’ll never happen again. 

He lingered on Atem’s memory of the view of the sea from his bedroom window. He liked it too. He thought he should take him there some time so he could see it for himself and have memories of it as well. He smiled into their kiss. He really wanted that. To just go everywhere in the world with him, to see all the places Yuugi knew and hear all the stories he had about each place. Yuugi kept moving through his mind, and he started to realize he was looking for something specific. 

_ ‘What are you looking for?’ _

‘That's not fair.’

_ ‘What?’ _

‘You think in Arabic. You hate me.’

He laughed until Yuugi pulled at something that hurt. He pulled back from him and winced. “What was that?”

At first Yuugi looked shocked, then he gasped, “I found it!” Then he closed his eyes, wrinkling his nose in concentration. “Just hold on a little longer. I almost got it.”

“Almost got what?”

Piercing pain shot through his head and he groaned, reaching up to press on his temples to try and help with it. Yuugi giggled, brushing his hands away so he could run his fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp. It helped a lot then Yuugi hummed, “I can’t believe he let me do that.”

“What are you talking about?

“I fixed it.”

“Fixed what? What did you do?”

“I have no idea, but I fixed it so you can use your gifts from your bloodline. Did you know you can move through the shadows to anywhere in the world and see in the dark? It was broken, but I fixed it.” Yuugi’s bright smile shifted and he tilted his head, “I don’t know why he's letting me fix it. He has to know I did. If I was a god and did something like that and had some idiot who doesn’t know what they’re doing figure it out to undo it, I'd be pissed.”

Atem just stared at him. He must not have heard him right. “Are you trying to tell me you fixed the curse on my bloodline?”

He nodded with a bright smile and looked at the lamp beside the bed, letting his hands drop from Atem’s hair. “Want to try it? I want to see if it works.”

“I have no idea how to do any of that.”

“Me neither, but I broke the hotel-” Yuugi lifted his hands up and shrugged his shoulders- “Sooo..”

He snickered and nodded, “Okay, I'll try.”

He turned the light out, putting them in pitch black, or should be putting them in pitch black but he could see just fine as if the light were on. He looked around the room, noticing a spot in the corner where it was actually dark, but the shadows swirled, almost like they were alive. He tilted his head and walked towards it, swearing he was hearing it whisper to him. He stopped in front of it and took a deep breath, walking through what should be a wall. He found himself in the dark, but he could hear voices from where he was. 

“Why’d ya keep doin’ that?”

“Keep doing what?” 

“Ya know what,” Joey muttered, “You’re doin’ it on purpose…”

“I’m hungry. What else am I supposed to do?”

“Ya got a whole drawer full of those things ya can eat. Don’t start that.”

“They’re cold.”

“Sure…”

He heard a door swing open and Mai’s laughter. “I’m surprised you two aren’t sleeping. We have court tomorrow and Atem’s out with Yuugi. I’d sleep now if I were you.”

“I have work to do.”

“Don’t worry Mai. I’ll kick him outta here in a minute.”

She laughed. “Alright. I’ll let you know if I see anything out of the ordinary.”

He heard the door shut and then the shadows whispered to him again, telling him someone was calling for him. He backed up into the darkness and turned, finding himself in the room again. “Atem?” Yuugi asked, looking around the dark room.

“I’m here.”

“Sooo?”

“I could get used to this.”

Yuugi laughed and turned the lamp back on. He glanced back at the wall behind him and walked over to the bed setting down. Yuugi put his hand over Atem’s heart, smiling up at him. “I think that’s enough for one night, right?”

He snickered, feeling the hum in the back of his mind die down to a faint whisper. He watched Yuugi, go from smiling to frowning, his brows knit together and he glanced up at him, “Uh..”

“What?”

“I’m stuck.” 

Atem bit back a laugh at the embarrassment he felt from the whisper in his mind. “What do you mean you’re stuck?”

“I can’t… I’m stuck. I can’t stop it.”

He put his hand over Yuugi’s and smiled. “I can think of worse things than you always being there with me wherever I am.”

Yuugi lit up, even with the darkness whirling around in his eyes and at the edges of his smile. “Are you sure?”

“I love you, Yuugi. I’m more than sure. I wouldn’t let you do this if I wasn’t.” 

Yuugi smiled and pulled him down on the bed, getting comfortable in his arms. Atem closed his eyes, holding on to Yuugi and reveling in his warmth, while Yuug pulled him into his mind. It was a disaster; not his emotions, his memories. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing and feeling when Yuugi led him through it all. Adrian wasn’t just a bastard, he was a Vampire. That was clearly evident in the scars over his memories from a Vampires influence corrupting his thoughts and actions. Throughout his entire relationship with him, this guy used him to get whatever he wanted. Yuugi probably didn’t even notice them before, but he was seeing them now and he shared Atem’s fury over it. 

_ ‘I don’t understand. Only purebloods can do that.’ _

‘Are you sure?’

_ ‘I’m sure.’ _

‘I was afraid of that.’

Yuugi’s mind bounced around with thoughts and information he’d learned about the bloodline, but it was too quickly sifted through for Atem to catch any of it.  _ ‘We might be able to fix these if you want to try?’ _

The hum buzzed with warmth. ‘I’d like that. Worth a shot right?’

They tried to repair the scars on his mind from the Vampire before, but it didn’t work. Nothing they did worked and that was concerning. Atem’s mind swept over the scars, too perfect and defined to be remnants of an old command. They were...something else.

_ ‘I don’t think he was just a pureblood.’ _

‘What do you mean?’

_ ‘These… remind me of Morguinos.’ _

Yuugi didn’t take that well and he sure wouldn’t have either. Morguinos was the father of Ogendus known for enslaving thousands, just as his son was. Atem kept pulling at his other memories seeing if something would budge or if something wasn’t as perfectly executed maybe out of a rush or stress. He found something, well Yuugi found something. It wasn’t a scar, exactly, but definitely from a Vampire's influence. It was almost like the vampire bandaged it somehow, like it was meant for someone to see it at just the right time. Yuugi urged him to uncover it, afraid of what it would be so he removed the scar.

The memory was so vivid and bright; held in perfect preservation. Whoever did this, valued this memory. A memory of the snow, of Yuugi sitting in the falling snow in front of a large stone heart outside of a hotel. Atem could hear them talking, clear as the hum from Yuugi. Hearing his father's voice again brought back all the sorrow he’d waded through the last year since he died.

“You won’t remember this tomorrow or even the day after that, but you’re not stupid or naive. There’s nothing wrong with believing in someone that you love. That’s their fault they broke that trust, not yours. I know. I’m in your shoes right now. It’s not our fault, it’s theirs and we’ll move on and find someone else who won’t break that trust. Don’t give up.”

“Did you find anyone one else?”

“I did, but don’t make the same mistake I did. I found her and I turned her down because I was afraid of it happening again. Don’t be afraid of it. When your friend Joey is ready to stop hiding you from our world, I want you to meet someone.”

“Who?”

“You’ll have to wait and see, but I think you’ll like him. He’s a knight.”

“A knight?” 

“Not just a knight, he's Grandmaster of his Order. I’m pretty sure you’ll love him.”

“I’ll nudge him more then.”

His father laughed, patting Yuugi on the shoulder. “Everything will work out. You’ll see.”

The memory swept away and the hum dulled to warmth where it was before.  _ ‘You knew my father?’ _

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

_ ‘That memory... He talked to you.’ _

Yuugi shifted in his arms sitting up to look down at him. “Wait.  _ That’s _ your dad?” He sat back, examining his face with narrowed eyes. Then he smiled. “Okay, yeah I see it now.”

“Why was he talking to you? How did-”

“I got into a car accident.” Then Yuugi wrinkled his nose. “No. Something else happened… but I don't remember. Those scars. It was one of those. I just- I remember waking up with him talking to me. He said I had a concussion and got into a car accident. Mai and Kaiba were there… and Lilly. She said her name was Lilly and Alistar said he was a doctor…”

Atem watched Yuugi scrunch up his nose trying to work everything out.

“All vampires. So something happened. The day after he came to see me. Said he wanted to check in on me and make sure I was alright. He said he knew grandpa.” Yuugi lifted his shoulders, giggling, “Your dad was trying to set us up.”

“It seems that way.”

“I wonder if he really did know Grandpa. I never got a chance to ask him about it. All those memories were fuzzy then.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Yuugi laughed when he sat up, sweeping him up off the bed with him. “I’m sorry I ruined our date, but maybe this will make it up to you.”

“Are you kidding?” Then the hum in his mind intensified. ‘I’m in your head now. You’re actually stuck with me for eternity. This is way better.’

He snickered and shook his head at him. “I have spare gloves and a cowl for you. It should fit you fine.”

“It’s night time. It won’t matter.”

“Are you sure you want to risk it?” he asked, lifting Yuugi’s scarred arm.

“Fair enough.” He moved to his suitcase and grabbed his gloves and cowl. The gloves were a little big but he had them secure enough and the cowl fit fine. “So where are we going?”

“I believe they’re at The Hippodrome Casino.”

“They?”

Atem laughed, taking his hand and squeezing his hand. “Joey’s mom is keeping your grandfather in line. Apparently they have a show there she was dying to see.”

“If it’s what I think it is from the hotel entertainment flier, someone should be keeping her in line.”

He laughed as they made their way to the door. 

\----

Joey couldn’t get at him fast enough, kicking the hotel door closed and grabbing his wrist to turn him around. When Kaiba turned, he lunged for him, wrapping his arms around his neck and smashing his lips against his. Kaiba lost his balance and they both fell to the floor. He should probably ask him if he was alright. Probably hurt his head hitting the ground, but he’d messed with him all night. All fucking night. He’d just have to deal. Hell, he had to be expecting it.

Kaiba slid his hands over his ass, squeezing him, then sliding them up under his shirt, pulling him down against him. He broke the kiss to reach up and pull his shirt off over his head, catching the red in Kaiba’s eyes. Good at least he wasn’t the only one miserable. And he was miserable. “Why ya still got clothes on?”

Kaiba laughed grabbing the back of Joey’s hair. “You’re making it impossible to move.”

He put his hand over Kaiba’s as he pulled, making Joey sit up with him. He moaned, thinking about him doing that with a lot less clothes between them. “You’re takin’ too long.”

“If a quick release is all you want, I don’t need to take anything off for that.”

He glared at him. “Very funny.”

Joey pulled at his shirt with his free hand, but Kaiba just smirked at him grabbing his hand and moving Joey closer, tilting his head so he could bite down on his neck. “Come on. What’d I do ta ya?”

He felt Kaiba’s smirk against his neck as he murmured, “You do everything to me, pup.”

Joey moaned, melting into the sharp pain in his neck and the pleasure that followed, but Kaiba didn’t bite him long, just enough to rile him up more. “You’re a bastard, ya know that?”

He snickered and let go of Joey’s hair, pushing him off his lap and onto the floor. His breath hitched, watching Kaiba take his shirt off and crawl on top of him. He slipped his fingers under the waist of his pants and pulled on them, slowly. “Fuck you.”

“Making suggestions?”

“Demands.”

“Remind me to do this to you more often.” He pulled his pants off the rest of the way, throwing them to the side and crawled back on top of him devouring his mouth in a hungry kiss. 

But Joey was way more focused on getting Kaiba’s pants off because they were still fucking on. He barely got his fingers under his belt when Kaiba abruptly got up, walking to the side of the bed. “What’re ya doin’?”

He opened the drawer of the night stand and reached inside it. He grabbed something and shut the drawer. Then returned to the foot of the bed with a tube of lube in his hands, shaking at him. “Not that it’s that important.”

He propped himself up on his elbows, shaking his head. “I think ya like half puttin’ me in the hospital.”

He smirked down at him, unfastening his belt. “I like knowing you’re in my bed waiting for me.”

“Cause I can’t move?”

“That’s the idea.”

Joey licked his lips watching Kaiba unzip his pants, when a loud knock at the door pulled both of their attention to it. Neither said anything, when he heard Mai sigh on the other side of the door, sounding like she fell against it. “Put your clothes back on. We have a problem.”

Joey groaned and fell back on the ground, “Go away!”

“Kaiba told me to get him if anything happened and something happened, puppy. Not my choice.”

“There is no Kaiba only Zuul,” Joey shouted, getting a deep chuckle from Kaiba. 

“I’ll meet you in the lobby Mai.” 

“We need to go now.”

Joey couldn't believe it when Kaiba took his pants off and knelt back down on the ground, laying over him and kissing his neck. Then he sat up, glaring at the door. “Good bye, Mai.”

He felt weightless as her grumbles faded to silence. Kaiba smiled down at him, red filling his eyes. “You’re a lot more trouble than you’re worth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This year I'm participating in the YGO BB and I'm so super stoked about it! That being said, I'm still going to update this fic until it's completed, but it might be a minute before the third and final installment is put up because of that. You won't be waiting that long, can't work on only one project at a time anyway, but it will be delayed since I'm writing another monster for that. SO thank you for your patience and for your love. You guys rock and give me life!


	14. Chapter 14

Yuugi couldn’t look in the same place twice. So much was going on, everything was so bright and people moved around, dressed from jeans and tee shirts to formal dresses and suits, all crowded around tables or walking through with drinks in hand about the casino floor. Atem led him through the crowd to one of the staircases that snaked along the wall up to a bar loft and Yuugi held tight to his arm. He regretted agreeing to come here. Everyone kept looking at them instead of the colorful and bright casino. He felt like the whole room was staring at him and he knew it was because of what he was wearing. Normally he didn’t care what people thought about what he wore. He wore what he wanted to, but these weren’t just any clothes. These clothes were special and had a ‘why’ behind it. He might as well have walked through the casino in women's lingerie. 

Atem kept glancing at him with a proud smirk and that made it infinitely worse. 

At the top of the stairs he saw a bar with tables set up along the loft area. Looking over the people crowded around the bar, he saw Grandpa leaning on it and chatting up the young bartender. She giggled and nodded, her voice lost amongst the rest of the chatter in the room.

“He’s the worst.”

Atem snickered and walked with him up to the bar. 

“Grandpa!”

He looked all around then turned, his eyes laying on Yuugi. “There you-”

His voice died out when he caught sight of Atem. He gasped like he’d seen a ghost and almost dropped his drink, falling backwards against the lit up bar. “...A-Atem?”

Yuugi blinked, completely at a loss for words when looked over at Atem. His face lit up with recognition and he laughed, talking to his grandpa in Arabic,  _ “Solomon! Wow I can’t believe it!” _

Grandpa recovered, shaking his head and laughing,  _ “You don’t believe it? Ha! This is crazy!... Is that really you?” _

_ “Of course it’s me! And I see you haven’t changed a bit, well except… You look so old. How old are you? _

His grandpa heartily laughed and gave Atem a hug, hitting him hard on the back before stepping back. It made him smile. This had to be his first boyfriend that Grandpa actually hugged (even if he didn’t know he was his boyfriend/fiance/whatever they were). It seemed like Grandpa liked him, and as much as that gave him more butterflies and warmth, it confused him. They knew each other? Yuugi looked at Atem with a quirked brow. 

Atem gestured to his grandpa and grinned. “This is the human I was telling you about. The one that kept getting into trouble.”

“Ha! That’s not how I remember it. I told you the story, remember Yuugi?”

“No. I think I would’ve remembered, but now I have to hear it again.”

“You know I can’t pass up telling a good story!” He hugged Yuugi picking him up off his feet and making him laugh. “My boy! I was so worried about you!”

“I’m fine, Grandpa.” He chuckled as he set him back down. “I’ve been with Atem.” He flashed Atem a smile and he smiled back.

Grandpa faced Atem, hand still resting on Yuugi’s shoulder, shaking his head as he talked to him in Arabic, _ “I can’t believe it! What are the odds? How is your father? And my beautiful Lilly?” _

Atem lifted his arms from his sides and let them fall.  _ “It’s been a long time.”  _ He smiled sadly and gestured to one of the tables off in a corner.  _ “Why don’t we sit down and catch up.” _

_ “Great idea.” _ He turned to the bar and waved at the girl he was talking to. “I need a glass of red wine for my friend here, sweet cheeks.”

Yuugi gasped, “Grandpa!”

“What? I’m having a great time.”

She giggled, shaking her head. “Coming right up, Solomon.”

He waited until she walked away and elbowed him gently in the arm. “Yeah, having a great time harassing the bartender,” he huffed. “We talked about it.”

“And you weren’t here to ruin my fun. I didn’t know you were going to be here or I would’ve at least got us a table so you’d never know.”

Yuugi narrowed his eyes, following Atem to a table with Grandpa beside him. “Isn’t Joey’s mom supervising you?”

He laughed, “I ditched her in the Magic Mike show. She’ll be awhile.”

Atem laughed and pulled out a chair for Yuugi to sit down. It faced away from the bar and out into the casino so he could see all of it and he loved that he picked that seat. He sat down, smiling as Atem pulled his chair closer and sat beside him. Grandpa was too busy marveling that Atem was not only alive, but exactly how he was when he saw him years ago to notice. Yuugi was happy about that. He wanted to explain everything to him and them catching up would help with that. Grandpa put his elbows up on the table, covering his face like he did when he was playing poker with his friends.  _ “So, still got that old flintlock?” _

Atem grinned.  _ “Of course I do. I don’t go anywhere without Raven.” _

He reached down, disappearing under the table then came back up with the beautiful flintlock pistol he showed him before. He beamed, looking it over, then handed it over. Grandpa fiddled with it, examining it just like he did all the antiques his old friend would bring over. When he looked back up at Atem, he shook his head chuckling, “Holy shit. It really is you.”

Atem chuckled, winking at Yuugi, making him giggle.

“So you’re-” Atem gave him a toothy grin, showing all of his fangs and Grandpa sat back. “Wow. You know, a lot is starting to make sense.”

“It should.” He turned to Yuugi and smiled. “It’s making more sense to me too. I told you you reminded me of him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Grandpa’s the adventurous troublemaker, not me.”

Grandpa laughed, looking down at the flintlock, then side eyeing Atem. “If I remember right, you and your father were the troublemakers and Lilly and I had to save your sorry butts.”

Atem shook his head, saying in Arabic,  _ “I think your memory is failing, old man.” _

“Ah huh-” Grandpa leaned on the table, stroking his beard and looking at Yuugi- “I told you about how I had an expedition that my workers kept turning up missing in the middle of the night?”

“Yeah!” Yuugi lit up. “I love that story!”

Atem grinned, almost like he was asking what he told him, when Grandpa chuckled, starting to tell the story again with a big grin, “I went to the police to try and figure out what was going on and I ran into him and his dad. They were the only ones there that would listen to me. Though I had it all cleared up, but it kept happening.”

Atem sighed in mock frustration, “We were working on it.”

“Sure,” Grandpa scoffed, getting Atem to snicker. 

“We were!”

“So a couple days go by and I’m getting people telling me they’re quitting; said the place was cursed and they were all leaving by the end of the week. I thought I’d have to abandon the expedition. So I took matters into my own hands because those two weren't doing anything.”

“Not doing anything? I was shot twice in those two days!”

“Not doing a damn thing. So I took the late shift watch and I see this cloaked goon attack one of my men and tried to carry him off into the night. I went in and saved his life; scared the goon off when he got a good look at me. Must’ve heard the stories about me.” Yuugi giggled when he stroked his beard with a proud grin. “So I helped Alahm back to the expedition and out of the shadows, I see the most gorgeous woman walking into camp from the desert like an Egyptian goddess and she was looking _ just _ for me.” He sighed wistfully, “Ahh my beautiful Lilly... Now she got things done.”

Atem muttered a few things in Arabic under his breath about how he got shot and Lilly wasn’t there to know what was going on and how would he know they weren’t doing anything. Yuugi laughed at him, but at least now he had faces to the names Grandpa told him. He was a little impressed that the story was the exact same as the one he’d told him before and Atem wasn’t arguing with it saying it was all a tall tale. 

“She told me she was looking for those two and asked me if I saw them. We had to go rescue their sorry butts from the goons who were taking my workers.”

“We dealt with it. You didn’t have anyone taking your men after that.”

“Lilly dealt with it.”

“ _ We _ dealt with it and you still managed to be involved after that.”

“Had to see my beautiful Lilly in action.”

Yuugi groaned, “Grandpa...”

He laughed, shaking his head and looking down at the flintlock. Then he turned and beamed at Atem with reminiscence written into his face and shimmering in his eyes. “Did they ever end up together? Please tell me after all these years they did.”

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told you then: they respected each other. That was it. You and Karen with that.”

“Ah huh. ‘Respected’. Every time I talked to her, he’d get jealous and try to get rid of me.” 

“You’re Human. We didn’t want you getting yourself killed.”

His grandpa smirked, leaning back over the table to whisper loudly to Yuugi, “She was flirting with me on purpose too. You should’ve seen it. He’s in denial.”

“Grandpa you think every girl is flirting with you.”

“I’m a catch! What can I say?”

Yuugi giggled, shaking his head. 

“When I first met Atem, he told me he was having trouble getting his squad to listen to him. I told him to threaten them with this,” he said, holding the flintlock up.

“That was you?!”

Grandpa laughed, gesturing to Atem with it. “He asked my advice and I gave it.”

Atem smiled. “And it’s the single best advice I've ever gotten. It worked so well, in fact, my father picked it up too.”

“Heh, good! Serves them right. You were more than capable back then to handle it and that was what? 50? 60 years ago? Some people are too arrogant for their own good.” He handed the flintlock back to Atem and leaned on the table. “If you’re here, I’m surprised I haven’t ran into your father or Lilly yet. I’m assuming their Vampires too, right?”

Atem looked at Yuugi, smiling sadly, then back at Grandpa. He grit his teeth then explained to Grandpa in Arabic, _ “My father was the king of Vampires. He and Lilly were killed a few months ago by some ambitious bastards trying to take over.” _

“I… wow…” Grandpa looked down at the table and sighed. 

The bartender brought over their drinks, during the silence, setting a glass of wine in front of Atem and a bottle of beer in front of Grandpa. “Would you like anything love?”

Yuugi smiled and shook his head. “No thank you.”

“Try this,” Atem said, handing him a glass of wine.

“If it tastes anything like the mashed potatoes, I’ll be fine without it.”

“Try it. Trust me.” He took the glass and sipped it, it tasted like sweet red wine. He blinked and looked at him. Atem laughed. “He’ll have a glass too.”

“Can I see your ID, love?”

Atem leaned towards her, making her look at him, and smiled. “We’re all way too old for that.”

She laughed and nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

“Now I see how you got drinks all night at that bar.” 

“I didn’t do that for drinks.”

“But you did do it.”

“Yes, so I didn’t have to go home with anyone after the free drink. You’d be surprised how pushy people can be when they get you a drink and you’re not interested.”

“I mean, you got me a free drink.” Yuugi grinned at him, getting a smirk and a soft chuckle in return. 

“I got all of you a drink.”

“And I got YOU a drink.”

“I earned that drink,” he said, raising his glass to his lips. 

“By cheating.”

“How else was I supposed to get one from you?”

Yuugi laughed, shaking his head.

Grandpa watched them with a knowing grin. “I thought you were in Egypt, Atem. How did you two meet?”

“I was invited to Yuugi’s birthday party by Joey, but he got hurt and couldn’t make it. Left me there to figure it out on my own and Yuugi asked me to play a game.”

Yuugi lifted his shoulders and smiled. “We needed another player.”

Grandpa didn't buy that for a second, but he didn’t argue with it. “So you’re a vampire too, Yuugi?” 

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “That explains it. I was worried-” he stopped and smiled- “but I shouldn’t have. You know what you’re doing.”

“I really don’t. I'm playing this whole thing by ear.”

“We both are.” 

Grandpa gestured to his teeth, looking straight at Yuugi. “So how did that happen?”

Yuugi was so happy he couldn’t blush because that was a lot more personal of a question than his grandfather assumed. “I uh… well… it was kind of an accident.”

Atem immediately interjected in Arabic about how it was not an accident at all. He took the throne from his father after he died and he chose Yuugi to rule with him. He told Grandpa about his dad leaving him with a mess to clean up because it was too big for him to handle, and it was too big for Atem to handle by himself as well. He needed help. He said, although he didn’t regret meeting Yuugi or turning him, he would’ve asked Grandpa first if he’d known he was his grandson. He respected him as a friend. He said Yuugi was the best thing that ever happened to him. Told Grandpa how much he’d helped him and how much he loved him, and while Yuugi was a bucket of starry eyed goop, he asked Grandpa for his blessing in marrying him. 

Yuugi covered his cheeks with his hands, trying to breathe. Of course Atem had to do that in Arabic. He did it on purpose! 

Grandpa watched him trying to make himself disappear and snickered, “Do you feel the same way, Yuugi?”

He nodded, his cheeks hurting from how big he was smiling. “Yes,” he said, looking at Atem, “I love him.” 

“Well then… I just have one thing to say.”

Yuugi tensed up waiting for him to refuse; Atem tensed up too. “Yeah?”

Grandpa leaned over the table, looking at Yuugi then side eyeing Atem. “Watch this guy. Make sure he doesn’t try to rush into things alone because he thinks he can do everything by himself.  _ That’s _ how he gets nothing done and gets shot.”

Atem groaned making Yuugi laugh, “I can do that.”

“Consider it newlywed advice,” he chortled, “I'm sure that hasn’t changed at all.”

Yuugi mockingly glared at Atem. “Nope. Sure has not.”

Atem smiled sheepishly at Yuugi, then grinned at his grandpa. “Thank you Solomon.”

Yuugi reached over the table and held Atem’s hand. “Yeah. Thank you Grandpa. I’m just so happy you’re here.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I’ll always be here for you, Yuugi. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.”

Atem picked up his wine glass and asked before taking a sip, “So what have you been up to all these years Solomon?”

Grandpa eagerly went into all of his stories; about his other expeditions, about meeting his grandma and opening the game shop, about his dad and his job with expeditions into Egypt as well. The way he talked about it sounded like he was so proud of him, even though he wasn’t happy about him leaving Yuugi and his mom behind. He had a good long rant about how they should’ve gone with him. Yuugi agreed, even though he couldn't imagine his life being any different at first. 

The more he thought about it, looking out into the casino and the people laughing and drinking while playing a game at the tables, the better it sounded. He could’ve met Atem earlier. Maybe avoided that whole awful thing with Adrian, and he’d still know Joey eventually; assuming him and Atem would end up together. 

Yuugi faded out of the conversation, daydreaming about living in Egypt and meeting Atem as a knight. Running over scenarios in his head of Atem saving his life from some disaster and falling in love with him despite being unable to be together because he was a knight. At first he pictured him in the full suit of armor thing, but that didn't work out. They’d be in Egypt. He wondered what the Knights wore in Egypt. Probably something more modern, but this was his fantasy so he decided the best thing he could be in was the clothes they would’ve worn in ancient Egypt. He was stuck on that image for a while. That needed to be a thing. 

_ “-always has his head in the clouds.” _

_ “I’ve noticed. He read every book at the castle and we have a decent sized personal library.” _

Yuugi blinked, realizing they were talking about him. “What?”

They laughed, smiling fondly at him. Atem slightly turned in his chair to face him. “I asked you a question. Actually, I asked you two questions.”

“Sorry. I was uh... I was thinking.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Uh, well,” Yuugi cleared his throat and wrapped his hands around the wine glass. “Nothing, just what we were talking about. So what did you ask me?”

“I explained my plan for court. I wanted to know what you thought?”

Yuugi stared wide-eyed at him. He didn’t hear any of that. “Oh uh…”

“...You didn’t hear me, did you?”

“Ummm.”

Grandpa laughed, shaking his head. “I told you. Head in the clouds. Well I think it’s a great idea, Atem. If anyone can make that happen, it’s you. I know Lilly would love it and I think your father would be proud.”

“Thank you. At least someone heard me.”

Yuugi shrank back covering his mouth. “I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s alright. I’ll tell you later when there are less distractions.”

He thought about saying  _ Atem _ was the distraction, but decided against it with his grandpa there. “Okay.”

“I’d only suggest speaking with your friends in the Order first. If you have the force behind it, it won’t matter where they scatter.”

“Not a bad idea.” Atem reached over with his other hand and started fiddling with his ring. At first Yuugi thought he wanted him to let go of his hand, but he wouldn't let him. Atem frowned down at their hands, then pursed his lips. “I think we need to get back.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

Yuugi squeezed his hand and looked up at Grandpa. “Are you okay here?”

He looked back over his shoulder at the bartender, making drinks for a young couple. “Oh yes. I’m great! Go do your thing. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay. I love you grandpa.”

He stopped mid shift of his chair and smiled at him. “I love you too. Now get outta here before he starts freaking out. I know that look. Something’s going down.”

Yuugi quirked a brow and watched Atem smile sheepishly up at Grandpa. He waited until he was at the bar then pulled his hand off the table to rest in his lap, making Atem look at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Got a bad feeling.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I have no idea. I just know something’s wrong.”

Yuugi smiled at him, squeezing his hand. “Okay. Whatever happens, I’m with you.”

Atem smiled at him, a little of the worry fading away. “Thank you, habibi.”

\---

Walking into the hotel lobby he saw Kaiba, Joey, Mai, and Mokuba scowling. Kaiba paced along the back wall while Joey and Mokuba sat on one of the leather sofas. Mai leaned against the check in counter with her arms crossed. Atem strode in with his head held up, frowning. “What happened?”

“Court just called an unauthorized meeting,” Mai muttered.

Kaiba stopped pacing and turned, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “No, they’re attempting a coup!”

But Atem wasn’t phased by that at all. “Perfect.”

That got the exact reaction he expected. Everyone stared at Atem like he’d not only lost his mind, but might possibly be an alien sent to destroy the world. Kaiba recovered first, taking a step towards the sofa Joey and Mokuba were sitting on. “How is that-”

“Kaiba, do you have a gun on you?”

He blinked and nodded once. 

Atem looked around at the rest of them. “Does anyone have blessed bullets?”

Mokuba sat up on his knees, leaning on the back of the sofa. “Sure do! Seto’s has those. Mine does too if you need it.”

“I might. Just let me go to my room, then I’ll be back and we can take care of this.”

He turned to Yuugi and kissed his forehead, before walking through the lobby and disappearing down the hallway. Kaiba stomped over to him, surprising him, and he jumped back. “What the hell is he doing?”

Yuugi smiled, breathing out, “He’s fighting back.”

“So he’s going to kill everyone in there?”

“Maybe.”

Mai pushed off the wall and shrugged. ”Honestly, I say we let him do it. This is out of hand.”

“Yeah it is! Fuck.” Joey groaned. “They weren’t like this before.”

“No, they weren’t.”

Atem walked back into the lobby doing something with the flintlock, maybe he was loading it. He beamed at Kaiba as he walked by. “Are you coming?”

Kaiba followed him back through the hotel doors outside. Joey and Mokuba jumped up from the sofa. Mokuba giggled as they followed after him outside, “He’s kinda creeping me out. I’m excited.”

“You’d know all about creepy, wouldn't you, kiddo?” Mai snickered.

They followed Atem and Kaiba down the street towards a bakery. Atem disappeared inside it, Kaiba right behind him while they raced to catch up. Yuugi had no idea where they were going or why they were going in there but he followed anyway. Mokuba and Mai lead him and Joey through the bakery to the employees only door. Inside was a staircase and they walked down so many flights of stairs he was wondering how far down they were. Then they opened a plain dingy grey door and stepped into a foyer similar to the castle in Domino. He marveled at it, but didn’t get to look as close as he wanted to, he had to race to catch up with Mai and Mokuba walking up to Atem and Kaiba in front of two double doors off to the left. Atem said something to Kaiba but he didn’t hear him, then he turned to them. 

He looked them over then his gaze landed on Yuugi. He smiled, sadly and sighed, “You don’t have to go in there if you don’t want to.”

“I have to keep my promise to Grandpa.”

Atem nodded, turning back to the door and kicking it hard; a loud snap echoed in the grand foyer. Then he took a step back taking Kaiba’s gun and shot the lock. Yuugi watched Atem kick the door again and it swung open, hitting the wall. Atem walked in, assessing the room as he made his way to the occupied throne. Yuugi had maybe a second to look around the room as well, probably about 50 people were inside the huge auditorium, all crowded around the front. As soon as the man sitting in the throne saw Atem, he stood up, but he didn't react fast enough. Atem shot him in the head with Kaiba’s gun. The rest of them jumped and attempted to scatter. Mai ran past Atem and blocked the door on the other side, her gun pointed out at them. She laughed and it sent a chill down his spine. 

Atem kicked the body of the man away from the throne and sat down, just like he did when Yuugi first saw him at the castle; with his feet kicked over the side, lazily fiddling with his flintlock. “Let me know when everyone’s finished trying to run.”

They slowly made their way back to their seats, all panicked and all furious. They weren’t the only one’s uncomfortably anxious. It was getting to him too. It was in the air, like breathing in poison. Atem looked up at them and smiled, then said, “I want  _ everyone  _ in here. I don’t care where they are or what they’re doing. If they aren’t here in the next hour their traitors and I want them shot on sight,” Atem said, glancing at Kaiba out of the corner of his eye, “and that means the Grandmasters too.”

Kaiba blinked, then swiftly left the auditorium through the door Mokuba was guarding. Yuugi smiled at Mokuba’s giddy excitement. His fangs poked through his grin and he stood there with his head held high, just watching. Mai did the same. Joey pulled his sleeve and led him up to a row of seats where they could see everything. He felt their eyes on him as they walked up the stairs. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

When they got to the row Joey wanted to sit at, he pulled him down into a seat and whispered, “Damn, where was this guy the last year?”

“Being held back.”

“If Kaiba knew that’s what he meant, he woulda let him do it earlier.”

“I know.”

Atem lazily counted all of them, pulling back the flint on the flintlock and smiled at them, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything Marquis Bernard (at least he was pretty sure that was his name) shot up, snarling at him, “You expect us to be afraid of that antique? You’re no King! Just stealing a trick from Aknankamon! We will not bow to you.”

Atem didn’t hesitate, pointing the flintlock at him and firing. The bang was loud and it resonated through the auditorium, smoke billowing up from the flint. Marquis Bernard howled in pain and sank down to his chair; his wife rushing to his side and putting her hand over his stomach. Atem hummed, looking at the gun. “You must be in a good mood, Raven. You never work on the first shot.”

The archduke’s wife gasped, inspecting the bullet wound on her husband, then looked up at Atem, terrified. “You expect to kill us all?!”

“Yes. As of right now, until the others get here, you’re all held on treason. I can shoot you or I can have you sentenced to undeath in the sun. Anyone have a preference?”

They stayed quiet, watching him as he started to reload the flintlock. 

“Personally I don't give a damn what happens. You can either realize you’re not in control here or you can die. It makes no difference to me.”

“You’d let us live?” A countess murmured, just as Atem finished loading the flintlock. He aimed it at her and pulled the trigger; nothing.

He hummed and smirked at her. “I have no benefit in losing 8 entire houses. Do you?”

She shrank back and the others didn’t answer. 

Atem looked around like he was waiting for someone to make a comment or snide remark and pulled the flint back again. “Good. Now that I have your attention, let’s begin. For those of you who don’t know how my meetings go, here’s the rules; If you wish your opinion to be heard you better hope it’s worth getting shot for. I don’t have time for useless rants especially now when this meeting is against the crown. Don’t move and don’t talk unless I ask you a question.” Atem waited, looking at all of them. “If everyone follows those rules we can all walk or hobble out of here, a little worse for wear, but alive. There are  _ zero _ exceptions.” He waited, then snickered, “All of you were so chatty until I came in. Don’t stop talking now. If no one talks I’m still going to shoot you. At least you’d get the last word in.”

Still no one spoke and Atem’s foot twitched with impatience. 

“Maybe I haven’t made the rules of this game clear. Grandmaster Hasna? You know the rules, maybe you can explain it to them. Just like you can explain that my father picked up this little trick from me.”

Yuugi looked down at a woman in the front row he’d never seen before either. She glared back at him, her jaw locked. 

“Very well.” He started to raise the flintlock when someone stood up. Atem aimed and pulled the trigger; nothing. “You have the floor Marquis Simone.”

“We can’t support a king who willingly works with the enemy!”

“Who’s the enemy? The Lycans? Me? Archduke Kaiba? I’m all ears. Who are you all so afraid of because I haven’t heard a consistent enemy from anyone.”

“The Lycans.”

“The Lycans what? I’ve talked to several packs. They don’t want war. They didn’t even know we’re discussing war. They just want freedom.”

“At what cost? Our kind?”

Atem waved at him with the flintlock, pulling it back again. “Have a seat, Simone. Anyone else want to comment?”

A woman stood with long wavy blood red hair, he didn’t know who she was either, but as soon as she stood, the guy next to her sucked in a sharp breath and attempted to pull her back down. It was too late though, Atem aimed and fired at her. The bang resonated in the auditorium and smoke billowed up from the flint. She hunched over, clutching her stomach, just like Marquis Bernard.

“You have the floor, Grand Duchess Grear.”

She took a shaky breath and stood up a little straighter. He couldn't see her face, but he could hear the glare in her voice. “You're not listening.”

Atem quirked a brow. “I’m not?”

“No. You weren’t there! You didn’t see your family torn apart by those beasts and all you could do was run, yet you stand here and say they want freedom?! They don’t want freedom! They want blood. They’re filled with rage and hunger,uncaring who their victims are. Blood is all they are; all they see. They’re wild animals with no loyalty, no civility and no restraint. You don’t understand what they can do! What they  _ will _ do. You haven’t listened to anything we’ve said and that’s why I’m here. I’ll be damned if I let my family be torn apart again because of an ignorant king!”

Atem stared at her and to Yuugi’s surprise, he wasn’t offended by what she said at all. He looked like he was taking it in as if it were a sensible argument. Which sure, part of it was, he read about the war and it’s casualties with Atem, they knew, but Yuugi had a good long rant about how she was being unfair to him. Atem knew what he was doing. It wasn’t like he looked at a coin, flipped it, and said ‘hey if it lands on heads let’s do this’. He went out of his way to learn as much about it as he could so he could make an informed decision IF THEY’D LET HIM! It reminded him of Atem’s mom, tearing him down and she had no idea what she was talking about either. He crossed his arms over his chest, deep into a rant about that too when Atem looked up at him, smirking. 

_ ‘I can’t think while you’re doing that.’ _

He blinked.

_ ‘Although it is really sweet.’ _

Yuugi sank into the chair mouthing ‘sorry’.

Atem’s gaze shifted to Joey and Yuugi could feel him tense up beside him, like if he stayed perfectly still no one could see him. “Joey, do you want to show her she’s wrong?”

Joey blinked and hesitantly stood up, walking around behind Yuugi. “Yeah... if ya don’t shoot me.”

Atem snickered, “No promises. Not that it’ll bother you that much. Shot five times with silver and still wanted to go to a birthday party.”

“Heh, yeah…” Joey stood up a little straighter at that and walked down the stairs to the throne. “I woulda fuckin’ made it too. Just sayin’.” As he walked he shifted and changed, it still amazed Yuugi to no end. He stalked up to Atem, then turned to Grear. His ear twitched as he talked to her, slow and guttural, like he was focusing on every syllable, every word, every thought,  _ “You’re right. We were, but we’re not now.” _

Grear blinked, staring at Joey with complete wonder, as did many of the others. “He’s… he’s talking.”

“That’s what all of us have been trying to tell you. Now who's not listening.”

_ “We don’t want war. We want respect.” _

A man stood up from down the row, drawing their attention and Atem switched guns shooting him in the forehead, then he turned to look at Grear like nothing happened. She stared at the dead man down the row, adjusting her hand over her torso. When she turned her attention back to Atem, her voice sounded weaker, “Why did you do that?”

“You have the floor,” he said, starting to reload the flintlock again, “It’s disrespectful when you’re obviously shot. This means enough to you to risk your life and cause yourself pain. He should’ve waited his turn. This isn’t a free-for-all. It’s by my good graces all of you are alive right now. I gave  _ you _ the floor, not anyone else.”

Grear was having a hard time handling what was going on and dealing with her pain. She hunched forward and the guy beside her stood up. Atem started to raise Kaiba’s gun again. Yuugi tensed up, hoping to stop him without undermining what he was trying to do. The only way he could think to do that was through the connection they had. ‘Wait! They’re not knights. They are families.’

He glanced up at Yuugi, smiling and he smiled back. It looked like the guy was going to say something, but decided against it. Which was smart. He turned back to Grear and tried to get her to sit down, but she refused. “This is important.”

“You’re shot, mum. You can’t keep standing.”

“This,” she breathed, “is important. I watched those things tear your father apart. I need t-to protect you.” She pushed him, making him sit and held onto the table in front of her. “This is important. Can- can you promise me your kind won’t tear ours apart if we trust in you? What uh… what can you do to prove this isn’t war?”

Atem glanced at Joey who appeared to be thinking it over. That was the million dollar question. He heard Kaiba, Mahado, Mai, Atem and Joey all arguing different points, but never coming up with anything. Grear shifted, hunching over more on the ledge and that pulled Joey’s attention to her instead of her question. He made a high pitched whine sound and walked up to her. 

The guy started freaking out, eyes wide, body tense and scrambled to stand up again, but Atem raised the gun pointing it at him. “Sit down, Lyle.”

He gaped at him then sat back down slowly, watching in absolute horror as Joey reached out to Grear. She didn’t look any more comfortable with it. If she wasn't shot, she probably would’ve tried to run or attack him. That created a perfect situation for Joey to help her to her seat, minding her bullet wound and making sure she was comfortable. Then he stepped back, just looking at her. She kept her eyes on him, taking swallowed pained breaths. “Why are you doing this? Aren’t you hungry? I’m bleeding everywhere.”

Joey whined and rolled his shoulders.  _ “I'm starving. A pizza would really hit the spot.” _

She laughed, trembling. “You… you taught the others this? They’re like you too?” Joey nodded and she leaned back in the seat staring at him. “Then I was wrong.”

Atem watched the exchange with a knowing smirk. Joey turned to leave the row and walked back to the edge. Atem nodded his head to him. “Thank you, Joey.”

Joey shifted back, stretching and took a deep breath. “Man, now I really want pizza. Shouldn'ta thought it. Now it’s stuck.”

Atem watched Joey walk up and sit by Yuugi then turned his attention back to Grear. “What if we embraced this instead of fighting it? Use it instead of fear it?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “What did you have in mind, your majesty?”

“The Lycans are the strongest force on this planet and they suffered these centuries. Our Dark Emperor has to know that.”

She took a shaky breath and nodded. “Yes. I’ve thought about that as well.”

“Joey eased their suffering and he saw our most unholy.” He ignored the gasps and continued. “We gave the world to the humans to rebuild. We are rebuilt. It’s time to take it back.”

Yuugi noticed some interesting reactions from that. Joey was floored, as was a few of the others, but most interesting had to be Grear and the Grandmaster. They grinned at him like they loved  _ everything _ about that idea. Atem looked around at their faces, then back to Grear. “Would you like to give up the floor, Grand Duchess Grear?”

She smiled and nodded. 

He smiled back, turning his attention to the others and pulling the flint back. “I’m sure all of you have a good two cents on that idea. Well?”

No one moved. 

“I still shoot if no one says anything.”

Still no one moved. 

“Are you thinking?”

A younger Vampire from one of the houses furthest from Yuugi and Joey stood up, her whole house trying to grab her as she did. He pointed the gun at her and fired, smoke billowed up and a loud bang resonated, but she didn’t look hurt. Instead she exhaled the breath she was holding, and felt around herself thinking she was losing her mind. Atem snickered, “Wow. I don’t know what happened there.” He tilted his head. “Apparently I have bad aim. You have the floor... I don’t believe we’ve met. What is your name?”

“Precious, your majesty.”

Atem looked over her house then back up at her. “Pleasure to meet you.”

She gave him a shaky smile then glanced at her family out of the corner of her eye. “My uh- I.  _ I  _ am concerned that Archduke Seto Kaiba will control the Lycans if we give them this freedom. He could turn on all of us and he’d have the strongest force in the world to do that.” She glanced up at Joey and then quickly back down. “He already has the most powerful Lycan.”

Atem smirked up at Joey and Yuugi could tell Joey was both bushing and pissed. “A fair concern. He does, by my father's command, have a powerful Lycan in his house.” Then he looked back at Precious. “Would it satisfy you to have him removed from his house?”

She frowned and thought about it, glancing at her family, then back at Atem. “I don’t know.”

“I’ve spent a great deal of time with Archduke Kaiba’s house to see why my father would make such a decision and I can promise you, as a Grandmaster and as King, that Joey is in no way, shape, or form under Kaiba’s control. So what has caused so much distrust of Archduke Kaiba for your house? Rumors?”

“He killed an entire house, your majesty, in cold blood. He knows more than all of us about the war, the Lycans and is an expert in Militas Texere Lunae and all other forms of Lycan and Vampire instances throughout our history. He knows more than all of us the dangers of their kind and the dangers of what our kind and theirs have made together, but he is the one speaking most strongly in their favor.”

“Perhaps he’s a man who learned from his mistakes, Precious. Perhaps he sees value in something all of us see nothing, but fear. Knowledge in something could mean he knows the truth of it, and we do not.”

“It could also mean he intends to exploit his knowledge. He has a lot of reasons to resent this court and can use this to seek revenge. He knows how.”

Atem frowned at her, then started to laugh. When she stood up a little straighter and frowned at him he waved her off, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. I just…” He glanced up at Yuugi and waved for him to come down. “I want you to meet Yuugi.”

Yuugi got up and walked down there, not really sure where this was going. Atem waved for him to come closer so he moved to stand in between him and Precious. Yuugi looked up at her and waved, feeling really nervous in front of everyone glaring daggers at him. She smiled, confused and waved back. 

He heard Atem fiddling with his flintlock behind him, and turned to look at him. He smiled at it while he glanced up briefly at Precious. “Yuugi, you’ve spent a good amount of time with Archduke Kaiba and are good friends with Joey who is a Lycan. Do you think he’s planning on raising a Lycan army to destroy the world as we know it?”

Yuugi giggled at the way he said it and shook his head, “No-” before Atem could dismiss her, he continued- “but I see what she’s saying.”

Atem sighed, smiling at him, “Are you saying Kaiba is a danger and plans to betray us?”

“No! No, no. I'm saying I understand why she’s scared or why her family is scared.” He looked at them and they shifted uncomfortably. Precious just smiled at him. “I have absolutely no idea why everyone’s so afraid of Kaiba. He’s a dick, not crazy.”

Precious and Mokuba laughed and he heard Joey snort and guffaw from clear on the other side of the auditorium. 

“You’re right. He’s right at the head of all of that, but honestly? It’s not like any of you can’t know all that either. You guys have books everywhere on it. Kaiba’s more than willing to explain everything about it to anyone who asks, maybe not nicely, but he will. You can go talk to the Lycans in your home… districts? Right? That’s what it’s called?” 

Precious giggled and nodded. 

“Yeah. You can talk to them yourselves if you wanted to. There’s no reason for anyone here to think Kaiba’s locked away the secrets of the past. He’s looking at things that all of you brush over. That’s not something to be afraid of. That sounds more to me like someone who sees something I might want to see too.”

“How do you know that for sure?”

Yuugi snickered remembering the conversation he had with Kaiba the first day he started reading his books. “I made the mistake of telling Kaiba I was bored and he literally shoved books at me. I’ve been all over in his office and read all of his books. You have copies of all of them here in the castle. I think your history is fantastic; creepy, but fantastic. I’ve talked to him about what I read too. He wants anyone interested to know what's going on. He’s not trying to hide it.” 

Precious looked at the man sitting on the far end and he looked at her. She smiled and turned back to him. “So you aren’t concerned at all? Even after what he’s done?”

“I…” Yuugi sighed, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about, but even if I did, it wouldn’t matter. If Kaiba wanted to take over anything, he would’ve done it already. Trying anything now is more work for him and honestly a waste of his time. He doesn’t waste his time. I think you’re right. He could sweep in here and take everything if he wanted to, but he’s not, because he doesn’t want to. I’m more concerned, and you should be more concerned, not about Kaiba, but the fact that none of you want to know.” She quirked a brow and he heard rustling through the whole room, but he decided Atem had it handled so he kept talking to her. “You’d rather go to war, overthrow a king, than... What? Go to war and overthrow a king? I just… It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It does not,” Atem said from behind him, “What do all of you hope to gain here?”

“We intend to gain a real king.” Yuugi snapped his attention to a man, standing up with a gun pointed at Atem. “Aknankamon would never want a weak brat like you on the throne.”

“Yes and he didn’t want me to be Grandmaster either,” Atem commented standing up, “Shoot me then.”

He was going to tighten his grip on the trigger, but something made him look at Yuugi, no he made him look at him and he felt his thoughts. Next thing he knew he accidently did what he did with Atem, dug in too deep and was stuck, but while he was there, he saw the same scars over his memories like he had on his. They were everywhere. The only memories he got a good look at was the talk he had with the group there. They wanted Atem dead, they were trying to convince the other houses to kill him too. This wasn’t a meeting to try to help, this was him trying to cause a war under the orders of whoever it was messing up his memories. 

He tried fixing them, but that didn’t work. So he tried backing out, that didn't work either. All he kept getting the feeling of, was he truly believed there was another pureblood Vampire out there that should have the throne not Atem; and that was a problem, there weren’t supposed to be any others. 

He felt Atem in his mind too, and the next thing he knew, he heard a gunshot. He jumped, watching the man stumble back and drop to the ground. Everyone flinched, gasping, and Yuugi tried to wrap his head around what he saw. “We … Uh…”

Atem put his hand on his shoulder and he felt him murmuring to him in his mind, telling him everything was going to be alright. Atem looked out at them and squeezed his shoulder. “Have a seat Yuugi.” 

He forced a smile, walking away to join Joey in the top, but he didn’t stop there, he grabbed Joey’s shirt and pulled him up higher. He didn’t want them to get shot and he could feel how pissed off Atem was. Joey followed him, frowning and sat down in the top row. 

Atem waited until they were up there, then turned to the others. “Mai.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Grand Duchess Grear and her son are leaving. Make sure Alistar sees to her immediately.”

She nodded and Grear and her son got up from their seats, slowly making their way to the door, but not before Grear flashed him a smile. “I’ll be back here when the others come.”

“I'm sure you will. You’re tough as nails.”

She snickered as her son pulled her along. 

He waited until the door shut behind her before looking up at the girl Yuugi talked to. “Your house is free to leave as well, Marquiness Precious.”

She nodded and followed her brothers through the row, out of the auditorium though Mai’s doors. The man she kept looking to stopped, looking like he was going to say something, then bowed his head. Atem smiled watching them leave. 

“Nimara. Leave him be. You need to leave too.”

“I can’t leave my husband. He’s dying.”

“Do you choose to stay with him?”

She took a deep breath and looked down at him. He looked like he was saying something to her and she sat down. “Yes.”

“Countess Tini and your house, Archduke Khari you and… Khari where is your house? I know there’s more than just you.”

Khari laughed sadly, “Just goes to show, your better half is always right. You send me to my death, your majesty.” He paused just shy of leaving and glanced back at Joey and Yuugi, then said something to Atem in a language he didn't recognize. Atem laughed, nodding and looking up at Joey. 

Yuugi nudged him. “Do you know what he said?”

“Nah, I heard Kungawo’s name in there though.”

“Who’s that?”

Joey turned to him, grinning. “The guy Tea set us up on a date with, ‘member?”

Yuugi stared at him completely confused. “You remembered his name?”

“Ya kiddin’ me? I’ll never forget it.” Joey literally giggled, looking back down. “Totally fuckin’ worth it.”

“So many questions.”

He didn't get to ask any though. Atem dismissed another house then turned to the Grandmaster in the front row. He stood up and walked up to her. She stood as well, crossing her arms over her chest and still glaring him down. Yuugi was a little surprised when she started talking to him in Arabic,  _ “What are planning, Grandmaster? I know that look.” _

_ “I plan to unify this world for the Dark Emperor.” _

She let her arms slowly fall to her sides and shifted her weight.  _ “As we’d talked about years ago?” _

He nodded.

_ “I’m glad I came here then. For a moment, I thought they’d stolen your bite.” _

_ “I got it back,” _ he snickered, looking up at Yuugi then back to her.  _ “ _ Grandmaster Hasna, you may leave as well, but don’t go far.”

“I wouldn’t dream of missing Grandmaster Vera’s demise, your majesty.”

He waited until she left then cleared his throat. “Mokuba.”

Mokuba grinned. “Your majesty?”

“I need you to lock both doors and don’t let anyone in until we leave.”

“Want me to stay in here or out there?”

“That is up to you,” he said with a smirk.

Mokuba nodded vigorously and moved to Mai’s door, ushering her out and locking it then moving to his, walking outside, then coming in and locking it, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “All set, your majesty.”

“What do you intend to do?”

Atem smirked, his eyes blood red and his fangs poking his lips. “I'm so glad you asked. My fiance, the Grand Crowned Prince, is a pureblood descendant of Emperor Aleric and as such, has  _ all _ of his powers.”

The room was dead silent. The looks of realization, understanding, and terror in their faces made Yuugi look away. Joey pulled on his sleeve and made him sink to the ground, with a quirked brow. “What’s going on?”

He didn’t get a chance to answer, the sound of gunshots filled the auditorium as well as screams. They covered their ears and waited it out, leaning against the railing under the table. It felt like forever and a fraction of a second all at the same time. Eventually he didn’t hear anything so he moved his hands away. 

Atem’s laughter made Yuugi frown. This was definitely not the time or that. Then he heard him say, “Mokuba, you are terrifying.”

“Thank you, your majesty!”

That was a little better.

“You can come out now, habibi.”

Yuugi shifted out from under the table, Joey right behind him, but when they stood up, he felt sick. All of them were dead and a good portion of them weren’t killed by bullets. Joey snickered and grabbed his shoulders, pushing him to the stairs along the wall. “Come on Yuug’. Moki’s got issues. We just go with it.”

“Hey!”

Atem met Yuugi at the base of the stairs. He wrapped his arm around him and looked up at Mokuba, blood dripping from his chin. “Issues with poor table manners.”

“Easy for you to say. Your dinner doesn’t run.”

Joey walked around them to the door and unlocked it. He opened it up and jumped back, startled that Kaiba was right in the doorway scowling at him. “Damn it! Why ya do that ta me all the time?”

Kaiba glanced behind him, then looked him over frowning. “Are you alright?”

Joey blinked and grinned. “Oh yeah. This is their fault, not mine.”

Atem walked up to him. “It was. Are the others here?”

“Yes. It took me a while to track down Vera, but she’s here as well.”

“Good. Send them in.”

Mai stepped out from behind Kaiba, frowning, “Now? But it looks like a Mokuba tornado hit this place.”

“Now and that’s exactly what I want-” he kissed Yuugi’s cheek, leading him up to the throne- “Tell everyone they don’t have seats in here. I want everyone to pick a side. Now. That half-” he said, pointing to the far side of the auditorium- “against, this side for. Make sure they know once they sit down, they stay there. Give them all the time they want. Make sure the Grandmasters all sit where they normally do. And If they have any questions,” he said with a grin, “I’ll answer them.”

Mai snickered and nodded. “As your wish, your majesty.”

Yuugi sat down in the throne and made the mistake of looking out at the room. Blood  _ covered _ the first three rows; bodies slung over seats and the tables. He could see where some tired to run, tried to get away and cling to whatever hope they had for life. A wasted effort. He felt guilty, felt like he let someone down, but these were the bad guys. Still that didn’t make it any better. Didn’t help the regret. Atem lifted his chin so he looked away and stood in his way so he couldn’t see the room. “Are you still with me?”

He smiled, looking up at him, and kissed his wrist. “Always. I just hate this.”

“I know.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I'm trying to do way to many things at one time. xD
> 
> Dorogoy means Darling (Russian)  
> Milyy shchenok means cute puppy. (Russian)
> 
> (Thank you Bad Wolf for the correction! Language is hard.)

Joey followed Kaiba up the stairs through the middle row of the auditorium only to stop almost in the dead center. Joey grinned watching him sit down and cross his legs, glaring down where Atem and Yuugi were. “Why are we here?”

“This is my seat.”

“He said ta pick a side.”

“I think I've done that plenty already.”

Joey snorted and sat down next to him. “Yeah. Are ya nervous?”

Kaiba didn’t answer him, the only indication he’d heard him was a small twitch of his right eye. So that’s a yes. Looking out at the vampires flooding in through both sets of double doors, he’d have to say Kaiba wasn’t the only one nervous. For so many, it was eerily quiet. Hell, the shuffles and footsteps were louder than the whispers. He squinted, seeing his mom and Mokuba weaving through the crowd, all of Mokuba’s friends right behind them. 

“What’s she doing here?”

Joey shrugged his shoulders, waving at her when she stopped to look up like she was lost. She saw him and made her way to the staircase. Mokuba and his friends didn’t follow her, instead, turning around and walking back out. “What’re they doin’?”

“What your mother should be doing: staying out of this.”

“Alistar wanted me to make sure Seto doesn’t have a panic attack,” she chuckled.

Kaiba muttered under his breath. 

“Also, I know what’s going on and thought I’d give you both a heads up.” She held out a folded paper over him to Kaiba, pulling it back when he tried to take it. 

“Why can’t I see it?”

“You’re loud,” she said, holding it back out.

“Hey!”

Kaiba took the paper while she laughed at him. “Sorry, honey, it runs in the family.”

He turned to make a comment to Kaiba, but he was reading over the note, folding it up, and then reading it again. Eventually he looked up and stuffed it in his pocket. He didn’t say anything and it was making Joey nervous. “Ya alright?”

“When did you find this out?” 

He hesitantly turned to look at his mom, staring down at Yuugi and waving at him with her fingers. “This morning.”

“How? He wasn’t answering his door.”

“He did not. I picked the lock, well, faked out the lock.”

Joey turned to gape at her. “Seriously? I got in trouble for a month over that.”

“Cause you got caught.”

“What the fuck mom!? I was gettin’ back inta my-”

Kaiba pushed his arm against Joey’s chest, making him lean back into his chair so he could lean over him. He glared at her, hissing through his teeth, “You need to leave.”

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him; my family is here. I'm staying here.” Then she smiled. “It took me a while to see it, but that's what Aknankamon wanted to do. That’s what we talked about the day he died. I need to be here.”

“Did you not see the dead bodies and blood on your way up here? You need to leave. Joey and I can handle a fight here, you can’t.”

Joey bit the inside of his cheek when his mom glared back at Kaiba and leaned forward so they were both blocking his view of everything; glaring each other down. “I’m staying. Figure it out.” 

She sat back straight in her seat and Kaiba did too, both scowling at everything in sight. He didn’t know what was going on and really didn’t want to get his head bit off so he ignored it. Looking down at the carnage in the front rows, he wondered why it wasn’t bothering him. He could smell the blood in the air, see their lifeless faces even from up in the seats, but… it just was. He knew it bothered Yuugi. He could _see_ how it bothered him. Atem blocked his view of it as best he could, but when he’d move Yuugi just kept his eyes on him. He refused to look into the room. He should be like that, but he wasn’t. Even though his mom wanted to be there, stubbornly holding her ground, he could tell it bothered her too. It apparently bothered Kaiba, not in a ‘holy shit dead bodies are RIGHT FUCKING THERE’ way, but more in a ‘there’s going to be more’ way and that anxiety and fear swept through the room as thick as the scent of blood. 

He nudged Kaiba’s shoulder, hoping to get rid of some of that. “I’ll make sure she don’t cause trouble.”

“Heh.”

Mai lead Grand Duchess Mina and her two sons up the stairs to the row behind them. They walked over and sat directly behind Kaiba and him, completely unphased by anything. Mai leaned forward resting her elbows on their shoulders. “Soooo… What’s going on?”

He looked over at Kaiba, glaring at Atem. “We’re going to war because ‘why not’.”

Mai snickered, “See? I told you. Just needed to get laid.”

“Come on Mai,” Joey groaned, shrugging her off. 

She laughed, sitting up, “I told him your friends were cute. This is really your fault, puppy.”

Mina purred, “Ahh young love. It is good to see again.”

“You’re such a sap Mina.”

“ _Da_ , he’s earned it I think,” she said, “Just like we’ve earned a good blood bath in court. Never a dull moment, Archduke Kaiba.”

Kaiba scoffed, “This isn’t my fault.”

“This is entirely your fault, _dorogoy_. Though I do not believe you are the reason the Grandmasters are so nervous.”

“This’ll be the talk of the millennium for sure,” Mai chortled.

Mina hummed in agreement, then gasped, “Oh! _Milyy shchenok_ , my district’s pack wishes to send you it’s thanks.”

He frowned, wondering if she was talking to him or not when Mai laughed, hitting his shoulder. “She’s talking to you, puppy.”

Joey turned to look at her and she grinned. “They support us in war as well. Perhaps they could use a little more practice-” she laughed- “or perhaps it is in our blood.”

“Ha! At least you don’t have to deal with a bunch of hippies and inbred idiots like I do.” 

“The pack?”

“No. The humans.”

Mina laughed again and Joey shook his head at her, turning back. Then he saw Mina reach into the back of his moms’ coat, pulling out a folded note. He watched them, finding that weird and just as weird that his mom didn’t react, still glaring at the crowd. He turned in his seat as Mai and Mina leaned close to read it, their smiles disappearing. Mai looked up then stuffed the paper in her bra. Mina looked back at her boys and said something in Russian then sat up straight in the chair. She said more in Russian and Mai nodded. “Amen.”

Kaiba hummed in agreement.

Joey was so confused he was starting to get pissed off about it. “What’s goin’ on?”

“We’re either about to see history made or die.”

“We ain’t gonna die.”

Mai sighed, “I’m not so sure about that.”

“Is someone gonna tell me what-”

“Shh.”

“Don’t sh-”

Kaiba grabbed Joey’s jaw and made him look down at Atem as he stepped forward to address the court. He side eyed him as he let his jaw go but didn’t get to say anything. A portly man with slicked back black hair bolted up from his place on the left side of the auditorium, shouting at Atem, “Have you gone mad?! This is a perfect example of why our court and the order is separate!” He gestured to the front rows with so much exasperation he almost lost his balance. “Not every situation requires blood!”

“This is a perfect example of the repercussions of treason, Luis. Should I add your blood to it?”

He sputtered and grumbled, but refused to sit. Joey decided the guy was an asshole, but gave him credit for standing. Stupid decision since Atem clearly still had two guns on him, but hey. He’d probably do the same thing. Atem kept his eyes on him as he spoke, “Court and the order has always been separate. I’ve heard that my whole life as all of you have too. Despite our power and our presence we are separate from the humans and the rest of the world as well. That decision was made so that we could rebuild. We gave up our purpose, our power and our lands to let ourselves heal,” he turned away from Luis and addressed the court, “and we have. There is no reason to continue this. We’ve adapted the human’s way of ruling to survive. We don’t need it anymore. This court no longer exists as of right now. You have no power here and the sooner you realize that, the sooner we can get back to our purpose; to who we are as the children of the Dark Emperor.”

“We are not knights! _Your_ Order believes in that. We do not!”

Atem grinned and took a step forward. “This is not a belief of Knights. This is the belief of Emperors, long before any of us existed. Our most unholy left us to heal. When we healed and didn’t return to him, he’s not spoken to us in centuries. You think that’s a coincidence?”

“He never existed! It was just a lie made by the purebloods. They’re gone!”

“And what of the Order, Atem?” A woman in the center of the front row sneered, “You intend to dismantle that too?”

“I’m not dismantling anything. I’m uniting us. We were 200 separate Orders and a court of 500, maybe more. The Order should be held accountable for our own part in this. Now we will be one.”

“We won’t go along with this.”

“I didn't expect you to go peacefully, Vera, but you will… in the end.”

Joey sucked in a sharp breath when Vera pulled a gun from her waist and pointed it at Atem, but it wasn’t just her, people from all over the auditorium stood and did the same. Atem didn’t move and Yuugi covered his face in the chair. It all happened so fast he had no idea what was going on as the floor of the auditorium between Atem and Vera twisted and lifted, encasing Atem and the throne and shielding them both from the barrage of bullets. 

“Joey! Get her out of here!” 

Joey looked over at Kaiba and Mai, jumping down the seats towards Atem and Yuugi. Mina shouted something in Russian to her sons and they jumped down into their row, pushing people out of the way so they could get through. He barely had time to blink as he grabbed his mom’s arm, lifting her out of the seat and pushed her towards the stairs. “Go!”

She ran, fiddling with something in her purse then threw it, ducking through the seats to the stairs. He followed her down a few rows until someone jumped in front of her. She sat back on her heel and lifted a gun shooting him in the head and he stumbled back. She got up and started running again, but the whole thing took him by surprise and he had to bolt after her to catch up. “Mom!”

“Not now,” she said, waving her hand back at him to keep him quiet and ran down the stairs.

He followed her through the double doors, glancing back at the utter chaos in the auditorium. He hated leaving all of his friends there, leaving Kaiba in there, but he had to get his mom out. She ran towards the stairs they took to get down to the auditorium, but then she stopped, jumping back behind a wall. He didn't move fast enough and saw Alistar and Kaiba, both covered in blood, walk out from the stairwell. 

“Kaiba?” he sighed, relieved he made it out of there, and pointed his thumb back to the door. “We gotta get Yuug’ and Atem. They’re still in there.”

Kaiba smirked at him and reached around his back. “Don’t worry, I will.”

He pulled a shotgun from the holster on his back and pointed it directly at him. 

“What’re ya-”

He gasped as Kaiba pulled the trigger. It felt like a grenade went off in his chest and he flew backwards to the ground. Coughing up blood, he looked over and saw his mom disappear through a doorway, tears in her eyes, looking at him like she’d let him down. He hated her looking at him like that, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. Kaiba and Alistar walked over to him, and he realized, even with the smell of blood clouding his senses, that wasn’t Kaiba. “Who the fuck are ya?”

“You probably shouldn’t talk with all that silver in your chest,” he sneered, “heh, to think I was worried you’d be the biggest problem.”

Alistar shrugged his shoulders. “Everyone’s got a weakness.”

Joey coughed and weakly laughed, “A weakness? Fuck. Ya coulda been anybody. I’d still get shot.” 

He waited until they stepped a little closer to lean over him and he changed. It hurt like hell, stretching the wounds on his chest, but fuck if he was just going to lay there. He swiped at the guy pretending to be Kaiba, clawing into his leg. If he was going to die, he was going to die making sure they regretted shooting him. His mom was still trapped down there. He had to get them away from the stairs. Alistar shot him in the shoulder and he snarled, back handing him into the wall, watching it crack and split. That alone almost made being shot worth it. 

“What a wonder you are.”

He snarled, watching the guy impersonating Kaiba grin darkly. He started to raise the shotgun, but Joey charged for him, slamming him into the wall and cracking it up into the ceiling. He backed up, lifting his arm to finish what he started, when he felt two shots tear through his back. He howled and sank to the ground. Those hurt way more than anything else. Fuck! What was that?

The guy stood up, wiping blood from his lips and laughed, “A wonder.”

Joey barely had a chance to look up when he hit him hard on the temple with the butt of the shotgun. 

\----

Atem leaned back against the metal floor with Yuugi curled up on the throne. “You should probably get down, habibi.”

“Was this what you thought would happen?”

“I thought I'd get a few more words in, but they’re jumping right into the fun.”

“This is terrifying.”

“Live action knight story, huh?” Yuugi giggled as he climbed down from the throne and into his arms. “Can you make it a little darker here?”

“I think so.” He looked up at the fluorescent lights above them and they flickered, before exploding all down the line. 

“Well… that’s close enough.”

“Sorry.”

As much as he wished he could ease Yuugi’s concern, he kept silent; listening to the shadows. They weren’t whispering softly as they’d done before, instead, they matched the volume of the screams in the room and he didn’t like what they were saying. He couldn’t leave. Yuugi couldn’t leave. They snarled and screamed; lapping at the blood and the chaos, delighted by the cries. He changed tactics, taking Yuugi with him in the swirling shadows up to the top rows. There he’d be able to find a safer place for Yuugi and figure out how to get out. He put his hand on Yuugi’s shoulder, making sure he stayed down as he looked out over the railing. From up there, he saw the auditorium in better light than the fluorescent bulbs could ever produce.

Though, what he saw didn’t make a lot of sense. He didn’t recognize half of those fighting within the room. Where did these people come from? Then he saw two women who looked identical to Grand Duchess Mina; one ran for the door with her two sons, the other was right beside Kaiba. He ducked down and squeezed Yuugi’s shoulder. “Stay here. I’ll be right back, okay? Stay down.”

“What’s happening?”

“I think Kaiba’s in danger. Hold on.” He jumped up, darting down the rows and waiting until he was halfway down before shouting, “Kaiba, kill her!”

He ducked down as the gunshots were aimed at his voice and popped back up in time to reach out for Kaiba. Something ran at him, knocking them both down a few rows and he groaned looking up at someone he’d never seen before. Something was off about them. They looked horrified, despite their animalistic attempts at attacking him. He scrambled back as they drove a sword into the floor, lodging it inside enough for him to get away. Lost amongst the chaos, like the shadows wanted, he tried to find Kaiba again, but they were gone. He looked everywhere for them, then ran back up to the top where he’d left Yuugi. He jumped over the railing and ducked down sighing, “We need to-”

But Yuugi wasn’t there.

He slowly stood, searching through the auditorium. Where did he go? He panicked, listening to the shadows screaming at him to run. He bolted down the row until he ran into another horrified face. He sucked in a sharp breath, taking a step back. She shook and he was transfixed by the tears down her face as she raised the gun and shot him in his left shin. He fell to his knees staring at her when Mai ran up knocking his assailant into the wall and she fell unconscious. “Shit. Atem, are you alright?”

“I… where's Yuugi?”

“I can’t see anything. Something’s wrong. That was countess Li. She’s the sweetest thing. She wouldn’t do this.”

“We need to find Yuugi and Kaiba.’

Mai nodded pulling him after her down the stairs. Each step sent searing pain through his leg into his hip, but he had to keep moving. They ran through the doors out of the auditorium when Mai yanked on his arm, pulling him behind a pillar. She looked down at her gun, murmuring as she counted. 

“Wh-”

She hit him to shut him up and leaned around the corner with the gun. He heard her fire twice then she pulled on his arm again, dragging him through the back. She threw her shoulder against a wall and a hidden door opened up. 

“How did you know about this?”

“I’m a Lycan hunter. We count all of our exits and right now the staircase is blocked.”

“Blocked?”

“You did good, your majesty. We’re at war alright.”

“What’s going on?”

“Someone wanted to prove a point.” She reached into her blouse and pulled out a folded note, handing it to him. “See?”

He looked the note over. Nothing extravagant, just one word: Trap. Clearly. He rolled his eyes and shoved it in his pocket while Mai dragged him through the concrete service tunnel. He kept looking back, feeling like he was leaving Yuugi behind, yet hoping someone took him out of there. 

They rounded a corner and Mai slid to a halt. “Shit.”

Karen spun around and faced them, relief melting through her and she ran over to Mai, wrapping her arms around her. “Thank heaven’s you both got out of there.”

Atem moved around them, noticing how pale and distraught Karen appeared. He frowned and turned his attention to further down the hall where he heard shouting. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” 

Grand Duchess Mina and her sons as well as Archduke Danilo and his daughter Yulia blocked the service tunnel in a stand off, shouting at each other about something that had absolutely nothing to do with anything important. Atem glared at them, holding onto the wall to take some of the pressure off his leg as he made his way towards them. 

“Atem stop.”

“No. This is ridiculous.” 

He walked past Andrie and his brother Grigory, giving them a stern look (or at least tried to with the amount of pain he was in). They had the nerve to smirk at him, but they stepped aside so he could get between Mina and Danilo. Danilo did what he thought he would, pointed his old Tommy gun at him. “You!”

“If you have a problem, take it outside. The rest of us would like to leave if it’s all the same to you, Danilo.”

“I should shoot you all right now.”

“You try it, Dani, and I’ll make sure your daughter is shot first.” Mina shifted her aim to Yulia.

“Knock it off Mina.” He turned back to Danilo and glared at him. “If you don’t start moving, they’ll figure out this passage is here and we’ll all die.”

“They?”

“Yes _they_ , now start moving.”

Yulia tilted her head to the side and relaxed her stance, turning to her father. “They? I thought-”

“He’s just making it up so he can catch us off our guard.”

Atem groaned, “Go ahead, Mina. Shoot him.”

Mina laughed, relaxing as well. “Dani, I admire your determination, but we’re on the same side this time.”

“I’ll never be on the side of a slaughtering madwoman and her brats!”

Yulia looked at them, then Atem, then her father and lowered her gun entirely. “Now is not the time, papa.”

He ignored her, taking a step towards Mina, ignoring Atem as well. “Russia will fall!”

Atem rolled his eyes and started to walk along the wall past them. He could just feel the looks he got from Yulia and Mina’s sons as he hobbled down the tunnel. Truthfully, he wouldn’t get far on his own. It was a good shot. Yulia left her father’s side and walked up to him, tensing as if she should raise the gun, but she didn’t and he wasn’t about to stop. He had to make sure Yuugi got out. “Atem... I mean your- ugh. What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for Yuugi. Don’t suppose he went this way.”

She froze and backed up. “Papa.”

Danilo kept arguing with Mina until she hit him hard in the back of the head. He spun around to shout at her, but she was well ahead of him. “Stop! Yuugi’s in trouble.”

“Why do we care about a newblood?”

“Because he saved your life old man. Wrap it up.” He blinked at her and started talking to her in their language, but she waved him off and ran towards Atem, grabbing his arm and putting it over her shoulders. “He did come through this way. We got out of the auditorium, but we were ambushed in the stairwell. Yuugi saved Papa’s life, but he had to destroy the stairwell. He pushed us in here, told us about it being an escape for the kings and said he’d be right back. He insisted he had to get you. If you’re here, then he didn’t make it back to you.”

He tried to walk faster, but his leg was weakening on him. He didn't know if he could walk the rest of the way, let alone run. He could still feel the hum in the back of his mind from Yuugi, but he wasn’t answering him when he tried talking to him. He sighed and looked back over his shoulder past the others. “Karen.”

They all split so he could see her. She didn’t look up at him at first and he felt guilty for the look of horror on her face. She wiped off the tears from her cheeks and hesitantly walked through them towards him. He kept his eyes on her and she smiled at him. “Don’t. I'm fine. Just saw my son get shot, but I’m fine.”

“Joey’s shot?”

“Yeah. I… it couldn't have been him but I saw it. I saw Seto shoot him in the chest with a shotgun. I had to… I couldn’t help him.”

Another double? Or maybe it was the same person. “I’m positive he’s fine,” Atem said and started walking again. 

Karen caught up with him, glaring at him. “How can you say that? He was shot right through the chest with a shotgun! I know he’s not human anymore, but-”

“Joey’s been shot several times before and turned out just fine. They don’t want him dead. I’m positive he’s fine, for now.”

“Several?!” She took a breath to start on him about that, then shook her head, frowning. “No. I mean, they took him with them. He’s not-”

“Then we need to keep moving. He’s not here anymore. I didn’t see Mokuba or his friends either.”

“They’re outside waiting for us. Mahado has a ship for us to take back to Domino.” Mai said, rushing over to his other side and standing in front of him. “You can’t walk out of here like that.”

He started to argue with her when Andrei moved in front of him. He spoke to him in Russian (saying he wasn't waiting on him hobbling down the hall or something to that effect) and grabbed his arm, spinning around so he could pull him up onto his back. Mai helped him, despite Atem trying to wriggle out of Andrei’s grip. Mai patted him on the back and they all moved down the hall, Mina and Danio still arguing -in two separate languages- about which district was better. 

When the end of the hallway came into view, he saw Mokuba and Charlotte, both covered in blood with a couple vampires laying on the ground dead at their feet. Mokuba beamed at them, jumping over one of the dead bodies, blood covering most of his face and wrapped his arms around Karen. She was still stiff as a board and white as a sheet. He laughed as she just stood there, “We were freaking out that you were stuck in there!”

Charlotte joined in the awkward bloody hug and nodded. “Yeah. We looked everywhere for you.”

Mai shook her head and smirked at them. “Sure you did.”

“We did! But then Seto and Alistar came through with Joey. They said you guys would be through and to guard the door.”

Karen grabbed Mokuba and Charlotte by their cowls and yanked them over to her, “They came through here!?”

“Yeah, a while ago.”

“Did you send them to Mahado?”

“No, Mahado talked to us later. Seto said they’d met us at the castle.”

“Okay… okay uh- Let’s go. Hurry.”

Mokuba gave her a weird look, especially when she didn’t let go of either of them. “Are you okay?”

“No. No I’m not.” 

He put his hand on hers, leading them out of the service tunnel and into the alley behind the bakery. Mai led the way, Charlotte beside her; stopping them every now and then when someone would walk past. Mokuba walked beside Karen, constantly looking up at her with a worried frown. Atem had to admit he was doing that too. When they got to the docks not far from the bakery, Mai stopped them when they heard gunfire. She cursed under her breath, then pulled on Charlotte to follow her, glancing back at them. “Run.”

“Go Andrei! Papa and I’ll cover for you,” Yulia shouted and Atem felt her push on his back. 

Danilo muttered under his breath, but followed his daughter and Mai out. He closed his eyes, listening to the gunfire as they ran through the docks to a ship. He tried talking to Yuugi again. Still nothing; nothing, but discomfort or maybe pain. He was hurt. So he bled through his memories, trying to piece together what happened. It seemed after Atem left him, Butch found him and drug him down the stairs to help Joey. He’d seen him fighting with Alistar and Kaiba. Well not Kaiba, even Yuugi clearly felt it wasn’t Kaiba in his memories. He found it strange that Yuugi thought 1, like he was counting something, but he had no idea what he was counting. When Butch and Yuugi chased them into the stairway, he made the stairs collapse to bring them back down and not take Joey out without them being able to get them. He ended up saving Yulia’s father at the same time from being carted off by the others. Through the dust from the collapsed stairwell, Yuugi lost sight of Joey and ‘Kaiba’, but managed to get Yulia and her father to the tunnel. They left them to go back in and get him but… Something happened that Yuugi wasn’t entirely sure of. They were ambushed, it seemed like and he tried to get away from whoever it was and lead them away from the tunnel so they wouldn’t get Yulia and her father. 

Atem opened his eyes when Andrei ducked and fell backwards onto the deck of the ship. Andrei snickered and turned to face him, telling him ‘this was his stop’. Atem watched him join his mother and brother behind the ship side, firing back into the docks at a row of Vampires (from court and rogues he assumed) until he heard Mai shout, “That’s our cue. Let’s get out of here!”

The ship moved away from the docks slowly and he tried to push himself up, wincing from his leg. He looked down at it, peeling the fabric of his pants away from the bullet wound and groaned. He should deal with it, but he didn’t want to be useless. He stood up and turned to the stern. Solomon knelt against it, pointing a rifle out the back. Seeing him like that brought back memories of Cairo and he snickered, hobbling over to him and dropping down beside him with his hand on his shoulder. 

Solomon didn’t move, still aiming into the docks like he assumed Atem would be there, and said casually in Arabic like they were having coffee instead of running for their lives, _“Like old times, huh?”_

_“Yeah. I’m shot like old times, too.”_

He hummed in agreement and fired. _“Where’s Yuugi?”_

_“I have no idea.”_

_“Aren’t you supposed to be looking after him?”_

He laughed and shook his head; pointing Kaiba’s gun at a guy trying to get another ship free to chase after them and shot him. _“Well, he’s just as brave and stubborn as you are. Listens about as well as you too.”_

Solomon heartily laughed, lifting the rifle to aim at the docks again. _“If I know my Yuugi, he’s probably doing better than we are.”_ He fired again, cursing under his breath when he missed, and lowered the gun, turning to face him with a quirked brow. _“Speaking of doing better, this wasn’t part of the plan you told me.”_

_“This isn’t my plan at all. Apparently someone else made a plan.”_

_“When it rains it pours, huh?”_

He nodded. _“But this is good. Now I know who I’m coming after.”_

Solomon shook his head, snickering, _“You haven't changed a bit.”_

_“It’s only been 50 years.”_

_“We, Atem. We know who we’re coming after.”_

_“I don’t feel good enough for your sage advice, old man.”_

They both laughed when Yuugi’s voice rang through his mind. ‘Atem!’

He blinked and looked past Solomon toward the docks.

‘Good. You left.’

_‘Where are you, Yuugi? Are you hurt?’_

Solomon looked back at the docks then him. “What’s wrong? Do you see something?”

‘I’m in the city.’

He met Solomon's eyes. “We need to go back.”

‘No, keep going. Don’t worry, Atem, I’ll find you. I love you.’

He bolted up, startling Solomon, and limped over to the cabin. “Mahado turn around!”

Mahado walked out with Mai and did the one thing he did not need him to do; immediately focused on his leg. “You’ve been shot!”

“We need to turn around. Yuugi’s still in the city.”

“We cannot, your majesty. The British Order is sweeping the city. It’s suicide.”

Atem just stared at him in horror. Yuugi was still there. He was hurt. If he stayed there they’d kill him! “Turn. Around. Now.”

“Yuugi will be fine. We need to-”

“If you won’t turn around, I’ll go myself.”

Mahado straightened and sighed through his nose. That was good enough of a ‘no’. He started to turn when he felt someone grab him from behind, covering his mouth with a damp cloth. He barely breathed and he was out.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter done!!! Bittersweet for sure!
> 
> I'm trying to avoid my writing responsibilities. Shhhh... don't tell anyone >.>

Yuugi thought he was going to die. Not in a ‘laying in bed with a fever, staring at the ceiling, wishing someone would end it all’ kind of dying either. He was bleeding pretty bad, leaving behind bloody footprints where he went. Those bullets were strange. They went clean through him, but left him feeling like he was burning from the inside out. He kept going, steadying himself on the wall of a shop or restaurant with a cup of tea as their business sign. Looking up at it as he walked under, he wished he was home; wished he was sitting at Ryou’s kitchen table. Then he’d be able to have some tea, complain about how he was feeling while Ryou mixed up the worst tasting stuff for him to feel better and he’d have to chug the rest of his tea just to get the taste out. Then everything would be fine, but he was a long way from home and tea wasn’t going to fix the bleeding or burning. He paused, leaning against the wall and cringed in pain. He had to keep going. 

He could hear voices shouting and screams from behind him, despite the street he was on looking like a ghost town. He glanced back at the foggy street and started walking forward again, holding onto the wall. Atem and Grandpa were safe and that meant so much to him right in that moment even though he wasn’t sure Joey was safe. He walked a little further until another street connected with the one he was on. Leaning against the wall, he saw a few cars speed past followed by hooded figures running through the intersection, disappearing into the fog. He heard gunshots, a lot of gunshots, and they were getting closer or maybe he was getting closer to them. He stopped just shy of the corner of the building and thought about looking around the corner, but that sounded like a horrible idea. What if someone saw him? 

So he stood there, taking shallow breaths as he saw a group of hooded vampires and a few Lycans backing up slowly, firing down the street at what he assumed was the knights coming for them. One of them looked his way and started to point his gun at him, but a shot tore through him, sending him flying back. A familiar voice shouted from the group and a masked vampire side stepped closer to him, taking the place of the one laying dead in the street. “Help us!”

“How?”

One of the Lycans growled, snarling at him,  _ “The building. Knock it down.” _

Yuugi hesitantly nodded and turned to face it, pushing off and stumbling back. “Now?”

Another Vampire shouted at him, “Wait!”

He swayed trying to focus on the building and waited until he heard the grinding of a machine coming down the street. “Now!”

He pushed gently on the wall and the whole building shook. It swayed with him, breathed with him. Looking towards the street he saw the end of a tank slowly passing the building. So that's why they wanted him to wait. He let the building fall, let himself fall, towards the street and covered his head and face from the dust and the thunderous echoes from the tank as it was crushed beneath the brick building. He counted to ten after everything stopped and lifted his head. He couldn’t see anything from the dust, but pushed himself to his feet anyway. 

He coughed and backed up from the rubble, looking around for the others who were just there and hoped they were still alive. When he didn't hear or see anyone, he sighed. Probably for the best and now he had a way to leave without being seen. He took a step but didn’t make it far before he was swept up by one of the Lycans. 

_ “Hold on, your majesty.” _

He relaxed, holding on to the Lycan’s shoulder as they lifted him up. He braced himself as the Lycan tore down the street following after their friends, the vampire and other Lycans. They weaved through the streets until suddenly they stopped. Yuugi tried to focus as the Lycan set him in the back seat of a car and changed. He couldn’t believe it, staring at a young girl of maybe 12 years smiling brightly and climbing in with him. “My name is Nora, your majesty. Don’t worry. We’re on your side.”

“You’re… you’re a kid.”

She smiled and nodded, looking at the driver and passenger doors as they opened. Then the back seat door behind him opened and a woman climbed inside. She lowered her mask and looked him over. He blinked. Something about her looked familiar, and when he looked up into the front seats at the two men that climbed in, he knew why. “It’s… Khari right?” 

Khari turned back to look at Yuugi and grinned, the other one, the guy from the date that was an epic disaster turned as well. 

“Kungawo? What are you doing here?”

“Right as rain, Yuugi. I’d like you to officially meet my mother and father.”

The woman in the back seat grinned. “My name is Amahle, your majesty. I know all about you. Did you have fun on that date?”

Yuugi weakly laughed and shook his head. “No, it was awful.”

She laughed too and pulled out a small box from the pocket behind the passenger seat. Then she started talking to Khari in a language he didn’t know and she did not sound happy at all. He was worried it was him, until Khari started bickering back at her. Nora giggled. “Just like mom and dad. Mom always wins.”

Kungawo snorted and nodded, looking down at a lit up phone in his hands. The car started and peeled off after the others. Yuugi held on as best he could but that was a joke too. He groaned, hunched over and he felt a hand on his arm. Looking up at Nora’s sympathetic smile, he tried to smile back. “Where’s your parents? Why are you here? It’s dangerous.”

She laughed and patted his arm. “I’m a Lycan. My existence is dangerous. Dad’s in the other car and Mom’s waiting for us in the United States.” She gestured to the windshield with her head. “They’re killing everyone. We all have to get out.”

Khari huffed, glancing at Kungawo. “Did you get a hold of them, yet?”

“Working on it.”

“Is Elna alive? Did she make it out?”

“I don’t know, father. I’m working on it.”

The car was quiet except for Yuugi’s loud breathing. He was trying to be quieter but it wasn’t working out. “Where- uh where are we going?”

“Airport,” Amahle said, glancing up at him from putting something on the wound in his shoulder. “We need to get home.”

“I need to get to Domino.”

Kungawo started to say something when he sighed in relief, “Mokuba! I-yes… Yuugi’s with us. No I haven’t seen either of them. I-... Okay… Shit…”

Yuugi watched them, swaying in the car.

“They’ve planned this for a while… Let us know when you get to Domino. He’s coming with us. We don’t trust-...exactly. Be safe Mokuba.” Kungawo hung up and threw the phone on the ground. 

Khari said something to him in the same language from before in the auditorium.

“Elna’s dead.”

Khari said something else and Kungawo sighed, “He’s still missing.”

“Wh-who’s still missing?”

“Joey,” he sighed and glanced back at Yuugi. “And Archduke Kaiba and a list of probably 100 others.”

Yuugi nodded, looking down at his blood stained coat. “They’re not missing. They have them. With uh…” He frowned, trying to remember what their name was. “Oh come on I just had it.”

Amahle patted his back and smiled at him. “It’s okay, child, you don’t need to talk.”

“I need to. It's important. They're Tivair. The Tivair bloodline. Well, one of them anyway. Joey’s with them.”

Khari and Kungawo shared a look that was too long for a driver to look away from the road and when Khari looked back he had to swerve to correct the drifting car. “Tivair. Ha! Of course they’re still kicking. His most unholy not let those boot licking bastards through?”

Kungawo unbuckled and spun around in the seat. “Yuugi. Did you see anyone else in there besides Tivair?”

“I uh… yes. Shape-shifter and a… someone controlling the… I don’t know. It’s fuzzy...” Yuugi took another deep breath and sighed. 

Nora squeezed his arm and looked up at Kungawo. “He needs blood.”

He snickered, “are you offering?”

She gasped, “No! I just-”

“She’s right. I’m starving. I’m never starving…”

\---

Mai sat in a metal chair bolted to the bottom of the ship, frowning at Atem laying on a cot and swaying lazily with the ship. They’d be in Domino’s port within the hour, but that wouldn’t help him. Mokuba got the bullet out of his leg, but by that point, it completely severed both bones in his calf and that was just the damage that Mokuba could see. How he was walking on it to get to the ship in the first place was a miracle. As much as she wanted to sit there and marvel over it until they docked, she didn’t have time. So many were missing. Not just Joey and Kaiba, but Serenity, Butch, and Violet as well. Charlotte and Karen weren’t taking that so well. 

The metal door opened and Mai sat up straight, smiling at the man in the doorway. “There you are. I was about to hunt you down. Mr. Bakura right?”

“Dr. Bakura.”

Mai laughed, then clicked her tongue against her teeth. “Ah you’re one of  _ those _ guys. Got it ‘doctor’.”

He ignored her, like she expected him to. So she turned her attention to the hellhounds that sat just outside the door as if guarding it and the black cat walking behind him. It looked up at her, meowed and jumped into her lap. She hummed and scratched it behind the ears and it meowed again. Not like a cat this time. She heard the demonic hiss and growl in it. 

I like her.

Dr. Bakura scoffed, kneeling down beside Atem’s cot. “I’m sure you do.”

“Do you not?” He didn’t say anything, didn’t acknowledge her presence and she grinned, continuing to pet the cat. “If you don’t say anything I’ll take that as you do.”

The cat meowed; demonic and twisted. I LOVE her.

“If you’re both going to be useless; leave. Right now you have a King who’s about to lose a leg. Do you find that amusing?” Then he turned his attention to the cat. “Or you, Morgana?”

The cat purred and meowed. Yes. I’m hungry. Let me take care of it.

Mai kissed the top of the cat’s head and laughed. “I’m sure you would, sugar, but he sort of needs it.” She looked over at Atem, her smile disappearing. “When you say ‘about to’, do you mean that’s what needs to be done or you’re still deciding?”

Dr. Bakura sighed through his nose and stood up slowly. The cat took that as a cue and jumped down. 

“Doctor?”

He turned and motioned for her to follow him, walking out of the room. The cat sat watching Atem sleep and looked at her, winking slowly. She smiled and stood up, following him into the hallway, the door closing behind her. Dr. Bakura leaned back against the hallway wall, looking down at the hellhounds, then looked up at her. “I’m going to assume you’ve met my son.”

She smiled and nodded. “I have.”

“How is he?”

She quirked a brow and put her hand on her hip. “Well. Very well last I spoke with him. Why haven’t you?”

He rest his thumbs in his pockets, fanning his suit coat open. Mai tilted her head, examining him. He looked tired, not just physically but mentaily which humans often showed in abundance. Asking her about Ryou was invasive and personal and hardly a topic for her. It was better suited for Joey’s family. The more she thought about why he brought it up, the more curious she was. 

He smiled weakly at the hellhound in front of him. “Ryou was excommunicated from the coven. I can’t talk to him.”

“Excommunicated? Ryou? Are we talking about the same kid? What on earth for?”

“He protected a hellhound who the coven deemed unfit for this world. He was… too raw, too powerful, and they were afraid of what he’d do.” He half chuckled, shaking his head, but Mai’s attention moved to the hellhound he was looking at. 

He whined like that was sad news for him as well and then barked. Old friends. In good hands father.

“True. I know they are.” He looked back up at Mai, standing up straight. “Ryou took three hellhounds the coven planned to send back to his most unholy and left in the night. We tried to find him, but his familiar kept him hidden from the coven.”

“Well,” Mai snickered, glancing at the door to Atem’s room, wondering if she should shift the topic back to him. “Her majesty is fond of Ryou and her guard pups.”

He laughed, nodding. “She is. Her sister, Morgana, kept in contact with her so that I’d know how he was. Lately they’ve discussed this war at great length, so little is said of Ryou.”

“Caddy ladies.” Mai glanced at the door then narrowed her eyes back to him. “Not that I don’t love this little chat, doctor, but what purpose does it serve?”

“I was sent here by my coven to investigate this side of the war. They don’t know Ryou’s working with Atem or they would’ve defected to the others immediately.”

Mai locked her jaw. “Thanks for the warning, but that's still not an answer to my question.”

“I heard, before Morgana became distracted by the war, that he’s seeing a Lycan. Is that true? And Merlin hasn’t attacked it?”

Mai grinned and crossed her arms under her chest. “Ahhh, I forgot all about that. Even you witches are old school.” She laughed, shaking her head, “Merlin’s second favorite kid is a Lycan. He’s adopted Domino’s entire pack from what Ryou was saying.”

The hellhound that talked before, barked. Favorite kid, Joey. Started war. Enemy?

“One would think, but it seems that is not the case.” He turned to her and hummed. “The coven serves his most unholy, but his silence leaves us silent and indecisive. We cannot be part of this war without his blessing.”

“That might actually be an advantage.”

“It is, because Ryou is not bound by that.” Dr. Bakura took a step towards the door and knocked on it. “Are you finished?”

She heard something on the other side of the door, not human and not a cat. Then the door slowly opened revealing the black cat Morgana, happily trotting out past them, leaving behind perfect bloody paw prints. 

\---

Yuugi opened his eyes and found himself laying across several seats. He couldn’t see much around him, but it felt like wherever he was, it was moving. Was he on a plane? Blinking a few more times and looking around, confirmed he was in fact on an airplane. Across from him was Nora and who he assumed was her father, Kungawo and parents sat in the row ahead of them. He couldn’t see, but he could hear crying and hushed voices all through the plane. It felt heavy and heartbroken. That made him fully awake. 

“Yuugi?” Nora sat up in her seat then hit Kungawo’s arm. “He’s awake.”

Kungawo stood up and walked into the aisle, kneeling down so it was easier for Yuugi to see him. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore, but better. What happened?”

“Well you passed out on the car ride to the airport. Some friends brought blood packs and you woke up long enough to eat 10 of them and pass out again.”

Yuugi winced. “I’m sorry.”

Kungawo laughed and patted his shoulder. “Don’t be. We’re lucky we ran into you when we did. We should be landing now. I let Mokuba know where you were. Have a flight back to Domino all set up for you when we land.”

Yuugi nodded, licking his chapped lips. “Did they find Joey and Kaiba?”

Kungawo shook his head. “Everywhere’s panicking because of London. The humans don’t know yet, but at this rate there’s no way we’ll be able to cover it up. Mokuba’s doing everything he can but…” He sighed and looked out in the aisle. “You need to get back to Domino. They need help.”

He glanced out where Kungawo was looking and saw the night skyline of Cairo. He’d recognize it anywhere. He sat up, looking out his own window and felt himself smiling. This wasn’t a time to be happy, but he couldn’t help it. “We’re in Egypt.”

“Yep. I told you we should be landing soon.”

“I’m in Egypt,” he breathed, pressing his forehead to the window. 

Kungawo laughed and stood up, setting a book down on the seat next to him. “Your ticket’s in here along with some information for Mokuba. Make sure you cover up with that. Don’t want anyone to freak out because your clothes are stained with blood. It’ll come out though. Just soak it in-” Kungawo snickered and shook his head. “Just don’t worry about it till you get back. If I don’t see you for a while, take care, your majesty.”

Yuugi turned and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

He nodded once and walked back to his seat just as the flight attendant came by. “Do you need assistance with your seatbelt, sir?”

“No I can figure it out.” 

She nodded and walked to the front. He picked up the blanket (which he now realized was actually a coat) and put it on, fastening it in the front. He wished he wasn’t wearing these clothes. He felt like they were ruined, but Kungawo seemed to think they could be salvaged. He smiled, turning back to the window feeling warmth in his fingertips where he touched the window, not from the sun, but because of the clothes. He might be in Egypt alone, but he felt like he had a little piece of Atem with him. He wondered why he was still sleeping, or if he just caught him at the wrong moment.

The plane landed while Yuugi continued to look out the window. It took forever to get the go ahead to leave the plane, but he probably felt like that because of how excited he was. With just himself and the book Kungawo gave him, he left the plane, waving to them as they ran through the terminal to catch their flight to South Africa. He let out a deep breath and looked around the terminal, then opened the book. The flight to Domino didn’t leave for another hour so he walked through the airport. It smelled warm with spice and so many other scents he fleetingly recognized and dismissed. It’s just like he’d imagined it would be, watching families hugging each other goodbye and wishing them a safe flight. He looked up at the board of flights to see if his was delayed and noticed all flights in and out of London were canceled. 

He sighed and walked towards the gate for his flight. A few families sat in the chairs waiting for the flight, but it was mostly empty. He sat down in the corner away from the windows and smiled at the book. He hadn’t read it before and he internally thanked Kungawo for giving it to him. He opened it, sliding the letter and notes for Mokuba into the back and began to read. 

_ “-everyone out!” _

_ “Sir, please lower your voice. We don’t want to start a panic.” _

_ “They’re almost here! You have to get everyone out! This is a perfect time to panic!” _

_ “Security. I need assistance at gate 4.” _

Yuugi glanced up at a man talking to the receptionist taking tickets for a flight to Seoul. The man ran his hand through his hair and turned, looking back at the airport. His eyes were so wide Yuugi swore he could see the whites of them. He spun back around and slammed his hands down on the ticket counter, shouting at her again,  _ “You’re not listening to me!” _

_ “Security is on their way. They can take any complaints you have.” _

_ “This isn’t a complaint! You need to get these people out of here!” _

Yuugi stared at him, feeling like he should help. What if he was talking about the people that attacked them in London? He closed the book and started to get up, but stopped himself. Why did he look so familiar? Yuugi squinted, looking him over again, trying to place where he’d seen him. He wasn’t sure if he was a Vampire or not. He couldn’t see that close, but his face and his hair… Yuugi blinked then grinned ear to ear. He looked exactly like Adom. Exactly like the book described him. Thick black wavy hair combed back, doe eyes and soft jawline. Tall. Taller than Yuugi anyway, and… frail wasn’t the right word. What word did Emek use? 

Yuugi slowly sat back watching the Adom look alike desperately trying to get the woman to understand that something was going to happen, but she was having none of it; stone faced, unenthused, and closed off. He snickered and sat the book on his lap. What were the odds of actually seeing someone who looks like one of your favorite book characters? He opened the book back up and shifted in the seat, glancing up briefly as he did so, but he never looked back down. “Oh no...”

He locked up, staring at a large group of armed men that looked very much like Egyptian military. He glanced over at the Adom look alike, still fighting with the woman, and then back at them. A man was with them, leading them, not dressed as military and he looked familiar. Who was that? One of the… one of the marquis in Egypt. One that joined with Atem’s mother to oppose him. Yuugi stared helplessly as they swept through the seats, pointing guns at the poor families making them show them their faces. They were looking for him. He hated the screams and fear echoing down the open terminal. 

Glancing back over at the Adom look alike, he saw him watching them too. Then he turned back to the woman.  _ “They’re here.” _

Yuugi didn’t move, covering his face with the book and trying to decide what to do. Should he give himself up so they’d leave those poor people alone? If he did they’d kill him. It wasn’t really an option. If he moved, they’d see him. He thought about getting the Adom look alike’s attention, when he heard one of the armed officers shout down the terminal.  _ “Hey rogue! What are you doing here? You’re not allowed here.” _

The Adom look alike held his hands up and backed up away from the woman.  _ “I’m just looking for my family. I’ll leave.” _

The soldier laughed and raised his rifle. 

Yuugi panicked. That was the only explanation for what he did. A chair came out of nowhere and slammed into the soldier, knocking him over, getting the attention of the entire room of people. 

_ “He’s here!” _

The only thing he heard was gunfire and screams as he shrank into the seat, covering his face. They were killing everyone there! All because of him?! He heard metal snap and scream then the gunfire stopped. He lowered his hands to see the ceiling of the terminal fall on top of the group of soldiers. He bolted up and ran past the Adom look alike. He had to get out of there.

_ “There he is! Kill him!” _

The gunfire started up again, but Yuugi was well on his way, running for his life and dodging through the crowd and the pillars. 

_ “Go right!” _

He glanced back at the Adom look alike shouting to him and running after him not far behind. Then he saw the soldiers running after them too. He panicked again and stumbled, turning right through another long hallway. He kept running until he saw the doors to the outside. He felt a wave of relief, until the doors opened and a bunch of people, also armed, poured in. He tried to stop, but the Adom look alike ran into him, pushing him forward.  _ “Keep going!” _

So he did and they let him run past them as they raised their guns. The man in the front reached out, tapping the Adom look alike on the back and pointing towards the right again. He grabbed Yuugi’s shoulder and tugged on him, pulling the belt from his coat open and it almost ripped off of him. He had to hold it while he ran with him through the doors and around the corner. Then he shoved Yuugi into the wall just on the other side of the door in a nook that couldn’t be seen immediately upon leaving the terminal. He tried to catch his breath, fiddling with the coat with shaky hands. 

He didn’t get much of a chance though. The people who they ran past, backed out of the door, shooting as they went until the leader ran over to them, grabbing them both. The coat came right off of Yuugi and he gasped. They both stared at him for a split second then went right back to dragging him with them towards some old trucks. The leader lifted Yuugi up with little effort and tossed him in the bed of the truck, the Adom look alike jumping in after him. Yuugi pushed himself up and stared in horror as the soldiers tried to shoot through the group to get to them. 

The truck roared to life and jerked, sending Yuugi falling back into the bed and they speed out of the parking lot, shots fired into the tailgate and back windshield, but the truck kept going, 4 more following it. He laid there, trying to calm down when he felt a hand on his shoulder. _ “You’re… you’re the Grand Crowned Prince, aren’t you?” _

He looked up at the Adom look alike and nodded. _ “Who are you?” _

He smiled like he was looking at a dear friend.  _ “Today I would think your guardian spirit.” _

He snickered and sat up with his help. _ “Yeah. Thank you.” _

_ “It was a pleasure, your majesty.”  _

Yuugi took a shaky breath and smiled back.  _ “You still haven't told me who you are? Who any of you are?” _

_ “Well, we’re rogues. I don’t think it matters who we are.” _

_ “It matters to me.” _

He nodded.  _ “If you insist, your majesty. My name is-” _

_ “Is Atem alright?” _

Yuugi looked into the truck at the leader, glancing at him through the rearview mirror, taken aback by the question.  _ “Uh… Yes. I think he is.” _

_ “You think?” _

_ “He was hurt, but he’s alive, if that’s what you’re asking. I need to get back to Domino. He’s there.” _

He nodded then glanced back in the mirror again.  _ “I don’t suppose Atem told you about us?” _

He blinked, unable to answer that. He had no idea who they were.

Then he heard the man next to him say proudly,  _ “My name is Adom.” _

Yuugi turned to face him slowly. His jaw had to be dragging in the bed of the truck. _ “Adom?” _

He nodded, still smiling at him like a good friend _. “And this is my husband, Emek.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me. I know I know. Trust me I'm working on the third installment as we speak. Keep your eyes peeled for Wait...Were You Going To Say Worse? the third and final part of the series and I'm so super stoked about it! Are you stoked? Or are you bitter? I'd be bitter if I was you XD

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [One embarrassed Seto Kaiba, as requested.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717686) by [Life_0r_Death](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Life_0r_Death/pseuds/Life_0r_Death)




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